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By Joyce Fegan, in America
Women, who run and vote in record numbers, will decide the US elections. And the face of this pink wave is New Yorker Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, 29 years old.
Security at his first-floor office in Queens is tight on election day. A large sign says: "The press should send an email to [email protected]."
His attention has been drawn to the national and international scene – since his shocking victory at the Democratic primary in July, this revolutionary political star has been on the cover of Vanity Fair and has received articles in The Guardian, The New Yorker and beyond , Japan and Germany.
Allyson Espinal is the youngest trainee at Ocasio. Her Bolivian grandmother cleaned up the rubble left after 9/11, permanently damaging her lungs. So, for Allyson, politics is personal. His mother is Bolivian and his father is from the Dominican Republic.
"It was difficult when they (his parents and grandparents) arrived here (in America). My grandmother, on my mother's side, had many jobs. She worked with asbestos. She was part of the cleaning crew for the construction of September 11, so she was suffering from many lung problems.
"Working here (in the US) and making sure they had shelter was difficult, but when she arrived here, she happily met people who could help her. She's still alive, but she'll have lung problems after the Sept. 11 cleanup, because of all that dust, "says Allyson in Ocasio's busy but small but highly organized campaign office.
The night before the election, she got up late to do her homework and stayed at the campaign office for six hours. On other nights, she has an hour and a half of sleep.
The pbadage of his family to America, and the "privilege" that ensues, encourage him personally and politically.
"Things like that push me to make my voice heard, because she (her grandmother) has done all the work so that her children can have a better life, their children and things like that.
"I have to make sure I succeed well. My mother too, she was able to go to university – she was accepted to NYU. She managed to move forward, "says Allyson, who started her internship at Ocasio two weeks before winning the primaries.
She began by coldly calling the electorate, which was "interesting". It seems that some people have had a problem with the mbadive success of Ocasio during the primaries and his continued rise to national and international fame.
"Some people say," Oh, Ocasio, we do not like her at all, she's inexperienced, she's too young, she's a woman, you know things like that?
"After his (primary) victory, many people called the office and sent out a lot of messages of hate speech and the like. This guy called back four times, just to say, "Who thinks she is?" Says Allyson.
And who were these people?
"Men, and a lot of clothing agents too," she says, adding that even the male voters who support Ocasio had some advice to give him.
"So, the men who liked her looked like," Oh, I voted for her, she's great, "and then sent us an email in which we said," Oh hey, as if you was awesome and anything but you, you get a few things wrong, "and they tried the" mansplainer, "says Allyson.
However, when America wakes up Wednesday morning, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the rising star of Democrats, will likely have a seat in the House of Representatives, as the youngest woman. And it does not stop there, Allyson, when she is old enough, also plans to go to Congress.
A total of 257 women ran in the 2018 mid-term elections in the Senate and House of Representatives. However, 2,657 people came in overall, less than 10%, but 50% higher than the 2016 elections.
"Rain will not dissuade voters, absolutely not": mid-term elections considered referendum on Trump presidency
By Joyce Fegan, in America
People are hard to hate, especially in America.
A man, who reluctantly says that he was born in Colombia, advises me not to be exposed to rain before pneumonia.
Another woman, whose husband is Puerto Rican, pbades near the polling station to shelter with her little umbrella.
Away from the polling booths of Queens, New York, women crowded around television screens in their laundromat to watch election coverage, stores offer 10% points if you can show yourself at one vote and that the rain falls in abundance.
"I just took a poll of a senior couple who lives in my mother's building. This is a high participation rate. This rain will not discourage voters, absolutely not, "says George Bonfante.
George lives in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights, Queens, so diverse that it is possible to be anywhere in the world watching people.
"Unity is what we need, division is what we do not need. Forget your status as a democrat or a republican, "he says as he leaves the polling station.
He voted Democrat, like all the people I spoke to in Jackson Heights, in a district about to elect the youngest woman of all time, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, to Congress.
However, locals were not always stubborn liberals.
Nayab Rizvi, who left India for America in 1973, voted for the Republican Party.
"It's very important to vote, especially this year. I used to be a Republican, you know, so I changed my mind, "Nayab explains.
When and how did this change occur?
"When Bush arrived as president, they have since changed many policies. I'm not satisfied with Trump's policy, so I'm voting for the Democratic Party, "he says, adding that life in America has been very beneficial.
Ella Rubin is one of the people who has experienced the meanest side of anti-immigrant sentiment.
Ella was summoned by a stranger in the street because she had crossed paths – the woman was heading towards her three-year-old daughter.
"It's horrible that our president is a hate person, because my kids are mixed up, you know?
"And for me, yes, I'm fine, I walk, I have a Jewish surname, but know that my children have a Hispanic surname and know that they are considered immigrants to his (Trump's) eyes, it's just awful, "she said, visibly moved.
Ella says her area is mainly Democrat and that Trump was elected in 2016.
"The day Trump was elected, this place was quiet and people were walking around like," What happened? ", She says.
But on this election day, with the rain falling, his neighbors are busy voting in what most people regard as a referendum on Trump himself.
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