Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is preparing for her next move in 2028, and Democrats may not like the options she has in mind. She is weighing whether to mount a presidential campaign or challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Either path threatens to blow open the Democratic Party’s fragile balance of power.
“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.”
That would set up a bitter choice for Democrats: stand with the entrenched establishment or throw in with the progressive firebrand who built her career on radical ideas and Instagram politics.
She’s already making moves.
“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.”
Her team has brought on former Bernie Sanders advisers, an unmistakable signal of national ambition. At a town hall in Plattsburgh, N.Y., she told voters:
“Plattsburgh, we are here because every town, every city, every neighborhood in this state matters. Every corner matters. No one deserves to be ignored.”
The progressive base has responded with fervor. She joined Sanders on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour earlier this year, greeted by chants of “AOC! AOC!”
Her digital operation is massive. Analyst Kyle Tharp observed:
“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.”
The scale is staggering: 36.7 million followers across Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, and Bluesky, dwarfing Schumer and most of the potential Democratic field. Former Sanders aide Ari Rabin-Havt warned:
“She has a supporter base that, in many ways, has a larger potential width than Bernie’s… It would be the height of arrogance to assume she couldn’t win the 2028 nomination.”
Whether Ocasio-Cortez decides to target Schumer or the White House, one reality looms large: it would be foolish to underestimate her.
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