Cori Bush, a community activist who took to the streets after Michael Brown was killed by the police, is aiming to replicate an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-style upset over nine-term incumbent William Lacy Clay in the St. Louis-based district on Tuesday. Missouri’s 1st Congressional District has been represented by either Clay or his father for a half-century.

Now, Bush is offering an alternative to the dynastic politics that have carried on in the district and campaigning on a progressive platform, including a $15 minimum wage, free college tuition, and “Medicare for All.”

Bush, who is also an ordained pastor, single mom, and nurse, emerged as a community leader in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Brown, leading some of the protests. After the shooting, she ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2016 — but still managed to win more than 42,000 votes in the primary, despite spending little money. She points to her own experiences, including a period of homelessness during which she lived out of her car, as a reason she would be representative of the struggling district.

Clay is backed by the black Democratic establishment in the St. Louis area, and his political machine stretches back a generation, to when his father served the district. Bill Clay, who helped establish the Congressional Black Caucus during his tenure, served for 32 years before retiring. But Bush said that despite the incumbent’s influence, she has not received much pushback from the establishment. She has been asked on the campaign trail, though, why she was running against another black candidate. “To me, it wasn’t about a color, it had nothing to do with the color, it had everything to do with the issues,” she said.

Bush would also send shudders through an already-spooked Democratic caucus if she is able to win or come close to Clay. Incumbents like New York Rep. Joe Crowley and Clay — who are well-liked at home but maintain close ties to their city’s elite, as well as major corporate interests — have long thought their seats to be safe. Crowley’s loss to Ocasio-Cortez opened a lot of eyes in Congress, eyes that turned back home to wonder if the same grassroots frustrations and aspirations could lead to their own demise as well. Many CBC members have served comfortably for decades, in districts where a culture of respect for seniority and its benefits has kept ambitious politicians from challenging aging representatives. Those advantages can be difficult to overcome. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago recently beat his insurgent challenger by nearly 50 points.

Bush was the first 2018 candidate to be endorsed by Brand New Congress, the organization that first reached out and asked Ocasio-Cortez to run for office and works closely with Justice Democrats. The New York candidate traveled to St. Louis last month to campaign with Bush. Some Democrats have downplayed or outright dismissed the trends behind Ocasio-Cortez’s upset over 10-term incumbent Crowley, attributing the victory to demographic factors alone.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the day after Crowley’s defeat, shrugged off a question about the ascendance of democratic socialism in the Democratic Party. “It’s ascendent in that district perhaps,” she said at the time. “But I don’t accept any characterization of our party presented by the Republicans. So let me reject that right now. Our party is a big tent, our districts are very different, one from the other.”