Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking House Democrat, suggested the problem was more specific to Cowley himself. “Joe is a great guy, but I don’t think he paid enough attention to those constituents at home,” Clyburn said.

But on the left, the takeaway couldn’t have been more different.

Ezra Levin, the co-founder of the Indivisible Project, which sprung up after President Donald Trump’s election, hailed the dawning of “a new political era.”

“The rusting and reluctant political establishment will wake up or be woken,” Levin said.

Less than a year ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was tending bar. But on Tuesday, the former Bernie Sanders campaign organizer slew a giant. Crowley was not only a 20-year veteran of Congress, but the chairman of the Democratic Party in Queens and, until Tuesday, a potential heir-apparent to Pelosi.