GA-07: Atlanta may have its own AOC
WASHINGTON — For a woman who grew up in the Gwinnett County suburbs northeast of Atlanta as the daughter of South Asian immigrants, Nabilah Islam isn't that unusual.
Her parents came to the country from Bangladesh and worked hard — her father as a file clerk for the IRS and her mother flipping burgers and toiling at a warehouse until she literally broke her back — so their children didn't face the political and economic hardships they left behind.
And like many of her first- and second-generation American neighbors, Islam is struggling to make ends meet: At 29, she has put the remaining $27,849.63 on her student loans into forbearance and just decided to cancel a health insurance plan she described as "bogus."
What makes her stand out from most of the other residents of Georgia's hypercompetitive 7th Congressional District is that she's running to represent them in the House. And, with Democrats from all over the country landing in Atlanta this week for Wednesday's presidential debate, she should get a chance to connect with a wider group of potential donors and validators.
"I don’t have a unique story," she said in a recent telephone interview with NBC News. "It’s very common. But people like me don’t run for Congress. People have been inspired by the fact that I am running for Congress and giving this district a voice and taking on the risks I have in order to do so."
It's also a story that's now becoming more familiar in Washington, as young progressive women without traditional political pedigrees or deep pockets — like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — have not only won election to the House but become prominent political forces.
But from the standpoint of national political trends, there is one huge difference.
If Islam wins a double-long-shot bid to capture the Democratic nomination and the general election, she'll have done so in an area that — unlike those represented by "AOC" and Omar — is a true swing district rather than a haven of liberalism.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/atlanta-may-have-its-own-aoc-n1075366?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
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From down the road in Tucker (GA 06)