On June 26, 2018, as the country was just beginning to learn about future congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the political action committee Justice Democrats tweeted, "We have never been more proud to announce this win. Congratulations to a fierce fighter, organizer, Justice Democrat and soon to be Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."



Soon after, Ocasio-Cortez, who had just shocked the Democratic Party by winning her primary against incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, returned the love, writing, "I am proud to be a Justice Democrat (@justicedems). JD's effort to support working class, non-corporate candidates is how I got here. There are over 60 Justice Democrats nationwide. If even a few of us make it through, we can have a corporate-free caucus in Congress."

While Ocasio-Cortez's win has been dismissively summed up as lightning in a bottle, the truth is that the Justice Democrats were working diligently to find new, progressive talent to enter the midterm elections in an effort to challenge incumbents and push a different agenda. And, to a certain extent, it worked. The group endorsed a number of the freshman congresswomen who have been dominating the current news cycle with their progressive platforms, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Rep. Ilhan Omar. The group supports candidates who swear off corporate PAC money and espouse Medicare for all, the Green New Deal, and abolishing ICE, the very platforms that have now become part of our national conversation and essential talking points in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Now, Justice Democrats is looking to 2020 to challenge even more Democratic incumbents, a strategy that's been met with mixed reviews within the party.



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Here, ELLE.com spoke with Alexandra Rojas, the 24-year-old executive director at Justice Democrats, about the origins of the group, how she got involved in politics in the first place, and what it will take to find the country's next AOC.

For people who may not know, can you explain what Justice Democrats is?

Alexandra Rojas: Justice Democrats' mission is really to build a multi-racial, progressive cohort of lawmakers that are actually going to institute the policies that we are pushing for, like Green New Deal, Medicare for all, free college, [and] making sure no candidates run on corporate PAC money. We're really dedicated to electing a mission-driven team that is not thinking about their political ambitions but is running on the policies to transform America. When you see folks like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that's a literal case study of the work that we do. And so, in 2020, we're hoping to double down on competitive primary elections and compete in districts across America to help elect a new, diverse generation of leadership to Congress.

You’re 24 and already directing a political action committee. How did you first get involved in politics?

I got involved in politics for the first time ever during the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign. I had the opportunity to start off as an intern and work up to national staff, and that's where I met some of the other founders of Justice Democrats, other volunteers from around the country who ended up, after that, starting Brand New Congress and then ultimately we started Justice Democrats, both being political action committees. Justice Democrats, we started in about January of 2017.

What does your job as executive director entail?

We've been able to have a lot of success in the 2018 cycle with Alexandria, but we endorsed over 65 candidates who all swore off corporate PAC and corporate lobbyist money and who were dedicated to running on a progressive agenda. Some of the work that we did ranged from folks like Alexandria, where we were there from the very beginning—literally put out a call for nominations, someone suggested we reach out to her, and worked with her all the way until she ultimately won her primary.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Scott Eisen Getty Images

We worked with probably about 12 candidates that participated in that process, and then the rest of that 65 over, we endorsed in primary elections. There was a lot of work in terms of campaign launch, campaign management, field programs throughout the entire 2018 cycle. I got a chance to work on Alexandria's field program the last two months of the race and helped run the texting and volunteer recruitment programs there and then did the same for Kerri Evelyn Harris who had run against Tom Carper for U.S. Senate.

What we are doing right now is building toward that, building the infrastructure to actually get working class people into the halls of Congress. I spend my time right now flying around the country to places like Texas, where that's our first candidate that we've launched against, Henry Cuellar, the incumbent, and literally interviewing potential candidates on the ground.

How do you respond to people who have critiqued Justice Democrats’ strategy of challenging incumbents in 2020, instead of focusing on keeping the majority and winning the Senate?

With that logic, America would never know Ocasio-Cortez or Pressley. There’s tons of resources going into keeping the majority and winning the Senate, and we obviously support Democrats winning the White House and seats in the Senate and House. But when we ran Ocasio-Cortez against Joe Crowley, everyone told us, why are you doing that? Shouldn’t we focus on Trump? Over 70 percent of congressional districts in America are uncompetitive in the general, and lots of the people in those deep blue districts are not getting the kind of progressive representation they deserve, just as was the case with Ocasio-Cortez.

The Democratic President is only going to be as progressive as however progressive their Congress is. We saw that in 2009 when Democrats gave up on the public option. We need to build a mission-driven caucus in Congress who will hold whoever is in charge accountable to the best the Democratic Party can be.

What do you think people would find the most surprising about your work?

We have a Congress that is majority male, majority white, majority wealthy, and is deeply out of touch with what our country looks like and what our country needs in terms of the solutions and struggles that everyday Americans face. The EMILY’s Lists or the the DCCC or the Democratic establishment, when they go to look for candidates, they usually go in and look for someone that is going to be able to afford to run for Congress, that is usually a self-funder or someone who has access to a lot of really high-dollar donors, and what we're doing is quite the opposite. We're launching basically a 50-state campaign to collect nominations from everyday people around the country to nominate people in their community to actually run for office. And that process is so, so incredibly important because if we hadn't done that, we would have missed people like Alexandria, and like me, I'm 24 years old, I'm a Latina, who didn't see themselves in terms of involvement in political strategy and field strategy. I think that's what's most exciting about the work that I get to do is that I literally get to talk to people from across the country who are doing these incredible things, transforming people's lives. This is the millennial revolution, right? With folks like Alexandria and Rashida [Tlaib] and Ilhan [Omar] and Ayanna [Pressley] really stepping up and being the fierce, diverse leaders that we need in this moment to counteract the racist, xenophobic GOP and Donald Trump.

Let's talk more about this "moment." These candidates that Justice Democrats endorsed are dominating the news. Are you surprised?

People like Alexandria and myself are just the millennial generation. We are part of the first generation that is going to be worse off than our parents are. We saw the 2008 financial crisis and understand that the problems that we're facing are compounded over time. We're at a time where we actually get to reckon with that and have a national discussion. And it's leaders like Alexandria, leaders like other Justice Democrats, like Ilhan and Rashida and Ayanna, who recognize that and are calling it out for what it is because really enough is enough. I think we're in the midst of a political shift that started, I think, at least a little in 2016, where we saw this big Democratic primary open up space for young people to really voice their opinions. Most young people voted for Bernie [Sanders]. Most people right now are into the policies and the platform that we're running on, and it just so happens to be that they're common sense, and it's talking about creating a more equitable society.

Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. SAUL LOEB Getty Images

I saw you tweeted when Sanders announced his 2020 candidacy that he helped you believe in, what you called, a “political revolution.”

I think we're in the middle of one right now. I think it's really important for us to recognize the moment that we're in, and I'm really grateful and thankful for the Senator for igniting that in 2016. Now, it's allowed folks like Justice Democrats, who would not have existed before, to continue to shift the Overton window, shift the political landscape, [have policies] like a Green New Deal that actually match the scale and scope of the climate crisis that we're facing, in a way that we would not have been able to before. I feel responsible to push the Democratic agenda as far as we can now that every single presidential contender that's serious in 2020 is backing those policies.

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There is no question that I would not be involved in politics, let alone running @justicedems, if it wasn't for @BernieSanders in 2016. I will always be so thankful to Bernie for inspiring me and thousands of other everyday people to believe in a political revolution. https://t.co/kFaeOTzT2f — Alexandra Rojas (@alexandrasiera) February 19, 2019

Is that crazy to see?

Literally just three, four years ago I was a full-time community college student, full-time in the workforce, and not picturing that I would be a part of a political revolution. But that's why there's so much hope in this moment, why I think it's so exciting. Regardless of if you agree with the policies, I think respecting the hustle of some of the young people like Alexandria and our team here at Justice Democrats, folks of the Sunrise Movement, leaders like Varshini [Prakash].

On that note, what would you say to young women who are looking to be in politics but aren't sure where to start?

I would say to get involved. I know that sounds cheesy, but I think it's an ongoing struggle, and I think politics is still a place where it's a privilege to be able to organize. There's still a lot of people who don't necessarily look like young Latinas or look like young women, but it's really important to push ourselves to be resilient and be a part of it and make sure that we're at the top of the strategy tables, that we're managing campaigns, and that we're candidates ourselves because if we stay out of it—and that was totally me before—you never know what you're missing out on. You could totally change things, but you have to push yourself to do it and have confidence. And that's hard as young women.

And looking ahead, what are you looking for in a presidential candidate?

I do feel like we have an opportunity and a responsibility to play a big role in shaping the agenda. But I'm interested in pushing every presidential candidate, including Bernie Sanders, to lead and put forward the boldest, most visionary plan to save America in order to defeat Donald Trump in November. That's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a candidate that actually has a plan and isn't going to just talk about ideas that don't seem realistic or don't seem pragmatic. We want to see solutions that match the scale and the urgency of the crises we're facing and actually invest in American ingenuity and creativity like we haven't been able to see. Our generation is counting on it. Our generation can't afford for anything less than putting forward an actual plan to fix America and not just responding to the Republicans.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Madison Feller Madison is a staff writer at ELLE.com, covering news, politics, and culture.

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