"I don't know where the lies end and the truth begins."

In a shocking upset, the incumbent Representative Joseph Crowley lost yesterday's Democratic primary election to the young newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here in my home voting district. Mainstream political news has been covering the race all week; today I woke up and overheard some pundit on a show my father was watching mention how this result reflects the current state of American politics today, in which authenticity holds more weight than credibility.

This was not supposed to be a shot at Ocasio-Cortez, this result was just inconceivable to most as recent as about a month ago. Crowley had been in office for close to two decades, and had been the leader of Queens politics for quite a long time. He was well known and well respected in the community, old immigrant men who had never voted a day in their lives would line up to shake his hand whenever he was in town.

And yet at the same time, Crowley was shaking hands with corporate interest groups and various well-lined Super PACs in Washington D.C. and downtown Manhattan. Crowley was well connected and was known for his ability to raise large amounts of money. He was the fourth ranked Democrat in the House, and was widely considered to be a strong candidate for the next Democratic Speaker of the House. Across various circles in the country, he was considered to be a dealmaker who could get the job done.

And back at home, he was equally as respected. As recently as this past May, Crowley had helped champion a dual-language Bengali program to open at a local public school. Crowley was not always in Queens, but he had never turned his back on the Bengali community here. In part thanks to him, Bengalis were able to culturally flourish here in my home of Jackson Heights.

Bengali New Years celebration in the middle of Jackson Heights

So I am sure that all of us Bengalis must have felt a bit of guilt when we turned our backs on him yesterday. Jackson Heights voting districts voted heavily in favor of Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez brought the corporate contributions made to Crowley into the limelight. She openly addressed the skyrocketing cost of housing (greatly affecting Jackson Heights) and the influence of luxury housing developers on Crowley’s regime. Crowley had credibility, he had helped our community many times in the past and on a national level, he was known to get the job done. But all of a sudden this no longer seemed authentic. How can Crowley be looking out for us if he has his hands in so many places? Is he really doing the most he can for us if he’s receiving upwards of millions of dollars by companies that are only interested in profiting from us? This is the climate that allowed Ocasio-Cortez, an unproven 28-year old with big promises and (honestly speaking) not many ways to back it up. It’s because it felt like she really cared for us. It was authentic. I just hope Ocasio-Cortez will continue to support the Bengali community here as much as Crowley did, if not more.