Ocasio-Cortez Never Steered Money to a Key Arm of Her Party. Until Now.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made her first-ever contribution to the campaign arm of House Democrats — a $260,000 donation that is a milestone in the New York Democrat’s long and complicated relationship with her own party’s political establishment.

In an interview, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said her decision to give to the campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was driven primarily by the dire threat of Republicans staying in power. She feared a Republican-controlled House would not certify a potential re-election of President Biden this fall.

“The entire country saw a terrorist attack on the United States Capitol that was predicated on not certifying the duly submitted results of a presidential election,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said of the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. “And if anybody thinks that that was not a dress rehearsal for what they may try to attempt in January of 2025, I’m sorry to say, but I think that’s a very naïve assumption.”

The transfer of funds is a symbolic moment in the 34-year-old lawmaker’s own evolution inside the Democratic Party. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said the cash transfer represented her assessment that House Democratic leadership had changed sufficiently to now merit her money. It comes nearly six years after she first won her seat by ousting a top House Democrat in a stunning primary upset.

“If we take a look at it, we have the entirety of House leadership has now changed,” she said, citing the exit of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn from the top of the House Democratic hierarchy.

“We’ve exerted a lot of our power through our existing channels,” she added. “Now it’s time to assert our influence in larger institutions, including the D.C.C.C.”