New York Rep. Joe Crowley, a Democratic giant toppled in a surprise primary this summer, said the problem with his campaign was a disconnect with millennial voters.



Crowley, once seen as having the potential to be the next Democratic leader in the House, lost in a shocking primary to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then a little-known contender whose win against Crowley launched her into the progressive spotlight. She is projected to win the safely Democratic district in November.

“I think as people analyze this they’ll see that I won the African American vote by over 2 to 1; we basically split the Latino vote. It really was millennial votes — people that were not familiar with who I was,” Crowley said in an interview on BuzzFeed News’ Profile.

“I failed to really communicate my accomplishments and what I had done, especially out of 27,000 voters in the primary, 11,000 who had never voted before in the district. So it was really folks who were coming in from Manhattan, from Brooklyn, who could no longer afford to live there,” Crowley told Profile guest host David Mack. “This millennial movement ... I think is great for Queens and great for the city. And I actually think it bodes well for our party, as well, in terms of the excitement, I think is great.”