Another progressive Democrat has announced a run for the 15th Congressional District seat, by far the most crowded political contest in the city. And she stands among the pack in grabbing a marquee endorsement from a prominent congressional Democrat.

Samelys Lopez, a grassroots community activist who helped propel Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to victory last year, became the 13th candidate to announce a run for the South Bronx seat.

“I just feel like it’s a time for something different, a fresh perspective; someone who is connected to the grassroots, the progressive community; someone who has an independent voice that can challenge and have the courage to raise issues and to advocate for issues that need to be advocated for,” said Lopez in an interview with the Norwood News. She announced her run in the Mt. Eden section of the Bronx, where she grew up, on Sept. 28.

Lopez, a former Community Board 7 member and co-founder of the Bronx Progressives who ran unsuccessfully for District Leader in the 78th Assembly District in 2016, was long considered a potential candidate in the race jumpstarted after the district’s 30-year congressional seat-holder, Jose Serrano, announced he would not seek re-election next year.

The 15th Congressional District covers the South Bronx and serves as the only congressional district landlocked to the borough. It also continues to earn the unfortunate distinction as the poorest congressional district in the country.

“I grew up in the homeless shelter system with my family and I, and we moved around a lot throughout the city. And the South Bronx, this congressional district, really invited us into the community, and it was our version of the American Dream and I’m grateful to this community for everything that it’s given me and for setting me on the right path,” said Lopez, who eventually left the shelter system for Mt. Eden. Lopez now lives in Bedford Park.

Lopez’s brand of politics largely mirrors Ocasio-Cortez’s, given her endorsements on Medicare for All, the Green New Deal plan, and Universal Childcare. Lopez, who identifies herself as a democratic socialist, also hopes her platform for rooting out environmental racism, improving the housing stock, and creating living wage jobs will shift the district away from being the most impoverished to “a community that’s resilient.” She also wants locals to play a heavier role in the decision-making process, and a “seat at the table.”

“It’s really important for people in the working class to feel like they have a voice,” said Lopez, who is cobbling donations already through Act Blue. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Lopez will turn down corporate and real estate donations.

In jumping into the race, Lopez now joins Assemblyman Michael Blake, Phipps Neighborhood Financial Empowerment Center director Jonathan Ortiz, Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation executive director Marlene Cintron, former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Councilman Ritchie Torres, among others, in the field of progressive candidates vying for the seat.

But their candidacies could cancel each other out, propelling social conservative Councilman Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., another candidate deemed the frontrunner, to victory. Torres, however, leads with the most campaign cash, which stands at more than $500,000.

Given her animus with the Bronx Democratic Party, which she’s long criticized as being exclusive of hardline progressives while attempting to reform the party’s county committee, it’s unlikely she will be wanting or even securing their endorsement. Lopez, however, could benefit in getting the “Ocasio-Cortez bump” thanks to the Congresswoman’s national prominence. Ocasio-Cortez benefitted from the Bronx Progressives’ campaign volunteer apparatus last year when she was an unknown taking on her 14th Congressional District predecessor, Joe Crowley. The district covers the Bronx and Queens, and while she won by a large margin in Queens, she squeaked toward a victory in the Bronx.

The relationship between the two extended beyond the campaign. At Ocasio-Cortez’s inauguration, Lopez offered brief remarks congratulating her.

Ocasio-Cortez has rarely thrown her support to progressive candidates in local races save for the Queens district attorney race, where she backed Democratic candidate Tiffany Cabán, leading to a deluge of donations. Cabán ultimately loss in a very contentious race.

Ocasio-Cortez is currently lending her support in the race for Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District, where challenger Marie Newman, a progressive candidate, looks to unseat incumbent Congressman Daniel Lipinski, a conservative Democrat. It’s a race being viewed as a referendum on conservative Democrats.

For Lopez, securing her endorsement would be a big honor, though she told the Norwood News it’s too early to ask. She has admired Ocasio-Cortez utilizing her national prominence to put progressive proposals to the center.

“I think that as a community, as a country, we need to keep going in that direction because that’s the future of the Democratic party. We need to be bold, and the changes that we want to make, we need to be transformative, we need to have a transformative vision, we need to lead with our imagination and our heart and our soul, and we cannot afford to settle for crumbs anymore,” said Lopez.