Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Friday that she's endorsing seven female progressive candidates for the House and Senate through her political action committee.The slate of candidates Ocasio-Cortez selected indicate she's looking for a higher win rate than she had last cycle.Most of the newly-endorsed candidates are running in safe blue districts, but twoKara Eastman in Nebraska and Cristina Tzintzn Ramirez in Texasare in long-shot races to unseat Republicans.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Friday that she's endorsing five additional female progressive candidates for the House and Senate through her political action committee.The 30-year-old Bronx native wants more non-traditional candidates and progressives to keep her company in Washingtonand she's using her unusually large and enthusiastic following to help them get there."One of our primary goals is to reward political courage in Congress and also to help elect a progressive majority in the House of Representatives," Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times. "There's kind of a dual nature to this: One is opening the door to newcomers, and the other is to reward members of Congress that are exhibiting very large amounts of political courage."The slate of candidates Ocasio-Cortez selected indicate she's looking for a higher win rate than she had last cycle, when just two of the candidates she endorsed won their primaries and several were trounced by other Democrats.Most of the newly-endorsed candidates are running in safe blue districts, but twoKara Eastman in Nebraska and Cristina Tzintzn Ramirez in Texasare in long-shot races to unseat Republicans and are the most controversial of the endorsements.Eastman lost to her Republican opponents in the same House seat in 2018 and has not won backing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this time around, and Ramirez is running against MJ Hegar, the Democrat endorsed by the party's Senate campaign committee.The other candidates are Samelys Lpez in New York, Teresa Fernandez in New Mexico, and California's Georgette Gmez.Ian Russell, a former deputy executive director of the DCCC, said Ocasio-Cortez's latest endorsements indicate a shift to a more "pragmatic" and "sophisticated" political strategy that gives higher priority to winning races, rather than simply taking risks."It's interesting to see her deployed in a more pragmatic fashion," Russell told Insider. "It is not inconceivable that she could win some if not all of these House races ... if she starts racking up wins that could make her a powerhouse."The New York progressive has proven her ability to direct her supporters' enthusiasm towards other office-holders and candidatesa tweet or email from her can raise crucial awareness and generate significant campaign donations.And Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential bid is widely believed to have injected his campaign with much-needed energy after his heart attack last September.This comes after Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at the DCCC when it announced last spring that it would no longer work with political strategists and vendors that support candidates running against sitting Democrats. The DCCC's policy applies to both swing districts, which paved the path to the Democrats' current House majority, and safe blue seats.Ocasio-Cortez, who has refused to pay dues to the House Democrats' campaign arm, called the move "extremely divisive" and urged her supporters to "pause" their financial support of the DCCC.Ocasio-Cortez has already endorsed two progressive female candidates running against two of the most conservative Democrats in the House: Marie Newman, who is running her second challenge against conservative Illinois Rep. Daniel Lipinski, and Jessica Cisneros, a young lawyer challenging Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar.The Newman and Cisneros endorsements weren't politically risky: Lipinski and Cuellar have faced strong resistance from progressive leaders and groups in recent years.SEE ALSO:Watch the top 5 moments of Nevada's combative Democratic debateJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: A podiatrist explains heel spurs, the medical condition Trump said earned him a medical deferment from Vietnam
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