AOC builds toward a big choice for 2028
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and her team are positioning her to run for president or the U.S. Senate in 2028, according to people familiar with her operation.
Why it matters: Ocasio-Cortez's 2028 decision could shake up the presidential race or the Senate's leadership. A fellow New Yorker, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, 74, is up for re-election in 2028.
- A Senate race between Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez, 35, would be a generational clash pitting the Democratic Party's leading traditionalist against its star insurgent progressive.
State of play: This year, Ocasio-Cortez — widely known as AOC — has campaigned across the country and in parts of New York State far from her Bronx and Queens district, all while investing millions to grow her already formidable online presence.
- She has also brought in some former senior advisers to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to bolster her operation.
- Ocasio-Cortez hasn't made any decision about her future. But her team is working to give her choices.
She held a series of town halls in Upstate New York this summer that could help her expand her appeal for a statewide campaign for Senate.
- At one event in Plattsburgh, N.Y., she said: "Plattsburgh, we are here because every town, every city, every neighborhood in this state matters. Every corner matters. No one deserves to be ignored."
- Ocasio-Cortez's office declined to comment. A Schumer spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Ocasio-Cortez's team has done events across the nation, joining Sanders on his national "Fighting Oligarchy" tour earlier this year. Crowds chanted: "AOC! AOC!"
- Some close allies believe that even if Ocasio-Cortez doesn't think she could win, she may want to run for the White House to ensure that the Democratic Party's progressive wing is represented in the primary — just as Sanders did in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.
Zoom out: Ocasio-Cortez has had one of the fastest rises in modern American politics, after topping an incumbent Democrat in 2018 while running as an unapologetic progressive.
- She has supported Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — and has drawn enthusiastic Democratic crowds this year in part by picking fights with the Trump administration.
Zoom in: Ocasio-Cortez has spent millions this year on social media and on acquiring lists of potential supporters and donors to expand her grassroots fundraising potential.
- "Her team has spent more on digital advertising than almost any other politician in 2025, and as a result, they have brought in hundreds of thousands of new small-dollar donations," said Kyle Tharp, author of media and politics newsletter Chaotic Era, which closely tracks online spending.
- "She's also seen record-breaking organic growth on social media, adding several million new followers across Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, X, and Facebook."
- Across all those platforms, Ocasio-Cortez has amassed 36.7 million followers, far outpacing Schumer as well as most potential candidates for the White House.
Between the lines: Some former aides to Sanders see Ocasio-Cortez as an heir apparent who could expand his appeal beyond the party's left wing and immediately raise tens of millions of dollars in a presidential race.
- Ari Rabin-Havt, a longtime Sanders aide, told Axios: "She has a supporter base that, in many ways, has a larger potential width than Bernie's. She has been in the glare of the spotlight from day one and has the national campaigning experience a lot of other potential candidates are now trying to get."
- He added: "It would be the height of arrogance to assume she couldn't win the 2028 nomination."
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Leading the Dems/Libs?? Leading the U.S.????
Really need to think this one out young lady.
Please pick AOC as your nominee, that would be a gift that keeps on giving. The only people dumber than AOC are the people who voted for her.
Well, to be fair I think MTG or Laura Loomer could give her a run for her money. They all definitely belong in a basket of dummy's.
But yeah, let her toss her hat in the ring for the presidential nomination. Should be interesting to watch. Just make sure you stock up on popcorn.
People familiar with her operation? So idiots. She has, virtually, the same platform Harris had. Are the Democrats really pushing this hard for their own failure..again?
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Don't overcomplicate this.
Bernie has made a career of pandering to angry leftists and proposing utterly unworkable ideas he knows will never pass so he'll never be held accountable. AOC has always been "the next Bernie Sanders", and is no doubt positioning herself to move to the Senate where she doesn't have to campaign so often.
She's pandering to the nut job left extremists, leading 60 violence enabling dems in a simple vote against honoring Charlie Kirk.