Washington — The US Democratic Party was rocked to its core on Tuesday, while Trump-backed Mitt Romney won the Republican Senate primary in Utah. Democrat congressman Joe Crowley, seen as a potential successor to Nancy Pelosi as party leader and even speaker, was beaten by a far-left novice, in the biggest shock upset of the 2018 political season, which could presage a lurch to the left for the party. Crowley, a 10-term incumbent representing New York’s diverse 14th district, the number four Democrat in the House of Representatives and chairman of the Democratic caucus, lost his primary to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Bronx-born Latina activist and Bernie Sanders supporter who has never held elected office. According to a detailed profile this week in Vogue, just months ago Ocasio-Cortez was still working as a server in a restaurant. She identifies as a Democratic socialist. Her impressive 15 percentage point victory could spell a leftward shift for the party that is squaring up agai...
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