Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently confirmed getting engaged to Riley Roberts, her longtime boyfriend. 

“It’s true! Thank you all for the well wishes,” AOC wrote on Twitter on Thursday. 

Roberts, who has managed to dodge most of the limelight, occasionally makes appearances on AOC’s social media accounts. From college to the Met Gala, Roberts has been the 32-year-old’s ride or die, silently watching her meteoric rise to political stardom. 

Roberts has made headlines every time his fiancé defends him, including the time when former Trump campaign advisor Steve Cortes called his feet “gross” and AOC slammed back with a “creepy weirdos” tag.

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The duo met while pursuing degrees at Boston University, “in true nerdy fashion” at a weekly chat hosted by the dean, AOC told Vogue in 2018. After briefly being college sweethearts, they parted ways, only to rekindle their romance in New York City years later.

Roberts, the son of a real estate agent, spent his childhood living a lavish lifestyle in Arizona’s Paradise Valley. 

In 2008, he graduated from Chaparral High School located in Scottsdale and won several honors in debates. 

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After graduating from Boston and moving back home to Arizona, Roberts set up various websites for local businesses and also did a marketing stint for HomeBinder, a residential home management platform. 

He then reunited with AOC, who was a food service worker at the time. As the two hit it off once again, they helped one another in their endeavours, with Roberts taking to the streets to gather signatures to put her partner on the ballot. As she aimed to run for office against Rep. Joe Crowley, Roberts offered $1,750 worth of “in-kind contributions.”

Fast forward to April 2022, the couple got engaged in Puerto Rico. However, they haven’t finalized a date yet, as they wish to take “some space to savor this time before diving into planning,” AOC told Insider.