Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the “Get Out the Vote” rally at UC Irvine on Oct. 23 to encourage students to vote two weeks before the midterm elections.
The rally was hosted by the Sunrise Movement Orange County, the Orange County Young Democrats, Planned Parenthood Generation Action at UC Irvine, the UC Student-Workers Union and College Democrats at UCI, according to a press release.
The Democratic Representative from New York stopped in Irvine nine days after President Joe Biden spoke nearby at Irvine Valley College about his administration’s efforts to cut down prescription drug costs.
The congresswoman and activist was met with scores of supporters from across Irvine and Orange County, as well as groups of protesters. Supporters chanted “A-O-C” and held signs with slogans such as “pro-Roe” and “stand with Iran,” while protesters countered with popular conservative catch phrases including “let’s go Brandon” and “build that wall” throughout the speech.
Speaking ahead of Ocasio-Cortez at the rally were fourth year political science student Iris “Nini” Wu, UCI professor of biology and Irvine City Council candidate Dr. Kathleen Treseder, host of “Pod Save America” and former spokesperson for President Barack Obama Tommy Vietor and Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds.
“The purpose of this rally was to explain to students how easy it is to get registered to vote, and to check their voter registration on campus,” Wu said to the New University. “I’ve been on campus now for four years and I’ve seen that there are students who don’t understand the nature of how to vote on campus, which is very much an issue we want to address.”
On planning the rally, Wu mentioned the inevitable difficulties of hosting an event with such a high-profile public figure, but according to Ocasio-Cortez’s team, the event “went off without a hitch.”
“It was awesome to have someone of her status — she’s the youngest woman who’s ever been elected to Congress — to come to UCI’s campus,” Wu said. “We don’t typically get a lot of those visitors on campus, so I think it was a great opportunity to bring someone like her, who is such an inspiration to young people across the country, to UC Irvine.”
After a surge in turnout from young voters across the nation in 2018, turnout and registration numbers have declined steeply. Wu hopes to see UCI students reverse that trend this year.
“We really want to emphasize that students should be registered to vote on campus. California makes it so easy for everyone to register to vote and check their voter registration status,” Wu said. “Compared to other campuses, we’re kind of on the lower side. So I would love to see students turn out because it is very important that we maintain that status that students will go to the polls.”
The historically red Orange County has emerged as an important battleground for California in the upcoming midterm elections. Ocasio-Cortez endorsed California Democratic candidates in the forthcoming election, including Rep. Katie Porter of California’s 45th congressional district who is up for re-election. Ocasio-Cortez also spoke on topics ranging from climate change to immigration, bigotry and violence.
Speaking to the crowd of UCI students and Irvine residents, Ocasio-Cortez extolled the changing voter demographics in the United States as more young people become involved in politics.
“By 2024, 45% of this electorate will be millennials and Gen-Z,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Our time is coming. And that is why it’s so important that we lay this foundation right now.”
Midterm elections will be held on Nov. 8. Students can register to vote online at https://advocacy.uci.edu/election/
Josh Cain is a Photo Editor for the 2022-2023 school year. He can be reached at jbcain@uci.edu.