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.#
They weren’t entirely fair to begin with, given how our system works. But that’s besides the point. She is a politician, running for office is what she knows how to do. If they shut down elections by then, then she hasn’t exactly wasted much outside of her immediate network by preparing for them. If they aren’t successful at doing so (which there’s at least some chance of, like if they manage to piss off their SC justices somehow enough for them to not go along with some critical step, or if Trump’s health conditions catch up with him and his people start infighting, etc), then being prepared for an election would give a better chance at seizing any such opportunity than deciding not to bother planning for one and getting surprised would.