Ocasio-Cortez Can’t Afford Rent in D.C. Before Her Job in Congress Starts

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in many ways a typical millennial. The 29 year-old has been working as a waitress and bartender to make ends meet. And now that she has become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress she is still having financial problems because her new job won’t start for several months. In the meantime, she has to figure out how to pay her rent.

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“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, currently without an income, needs to wait until her congressional salary kicks in to get a DC apartment.”

“I have three months without a salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real,” Ocasio-Cortez said to The New York Times this week. “We’re kind of just dealing with the logistics of it day by day, but I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to January.”

Ocasio-Cortez told the Times she was able to save money before leaving her restaurant job and planned for time without a paycheck with her partner. But, she isn’t being sworn into Congress until January and has to pay for a move from New York to D.C. before then.

When a reporter posted information about her plight on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez responded by posting a response. She pointed out that the reality of her financial situation is typical and shows how many hurdles regular people face if they want to run for office and become politicians.

“There are many little ways in which our electoral system isn’t even designed (nor prepared) for working-class people to lead,” she tweeted. “This is one of them (don’t worry [by the way – we’re working it out!)”

Ocasio-Cortez won an easy victory on Tuesday in her New York City district. The outcome was never in question since the district is heavily Democratic. She won about 78 percent of the vote compared to Republican Anthony Pappas’s 14 percent of the vote.

After she won her June primary in a shocking upset we wrote:

“Liberal Democrats on Wednesday said a string of victories in U.S. nominating contests, notably the surprise toppling of powerful congressman Joseph Crowley in New York, proved the party must embrace progressive priorities or face defeat.”

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.