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A WGVU initiative in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation using on-air programs and community events to explore issues of inclusion and equity.

Political candidates seeking to shake the establishment campaign for each other

What you just heard is the excitement of the 1200 people who stood in line for an hour and half outside of Ottawa Hills High School this Saturday just to hear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Abdul El Sayed. 

Before her landslide win in Queens, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not even recognized by name in any of the local media.  

With $300 dollars in her pocket and a whole lot of passion,  the 28-year-old from the Bronx had never run in a political campaign before and now she has beat Congressman Crowley, the chair of the Democratic Party in Queens.  

“It’s a three-generation political machine. They have $3 million dollars and you have $300 bucks, but we charged on anyway because we knew that what we were standing up and what we were fighting for was the right thing to do.” 

Today the candidate is taking time away from her own campaign to endorse other candidates who like her are running a campaign without any corporate money. 

In the case of Michigan, that is candidate for governor of the democratic party, Dr. El- Sayed. 

“If you look at my life my decisions have always been about asking the basic questions of what’s the responsibility to serve real people and how do we do that right.” 

If El-Sayed wins the seat against congresswoman Gretchen Whitmer and Shri Thanedarm, he could be Michigan’s first Muslim governor. 

Michelle Jokisch Polo, WGVU News 

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