Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) appears to be taking “steps” toward a potential 2028 campaign for the presidency.
That’s according to Axios’s Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein, who reported on the topic Sunday. The report comes even though she has not announced she is running.
“The New York congresswoman is making new moves toward a possible White House bid,” the two wrote.
They cited the de facto “national tour” that has brought Ocasio-Cortez to key states like Pennsylvania and Georgia. These have also been recent “meetings with Democratic Party powerbrokers.”
“Whether AOC jumps into the race is one of the biggest X factors in the 2028 Democratic primary,” they wrote. “Democratic operatives expect she would easily raise $100 million just from small-dollar donors, mobilize many supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ past campaigns, and command attention as few other candidates could.”
During a speech in Philadelphia, she quoted an activist who recently said that “MAGA is the last dying breath of the confederacy.”
She added: “In response to a confederacy, we have this moment here of liberation, abolition, and revival of the values that make this country actually great.”
At the same time, Ocasio-Cortez is also reportedly weighing a campaign for the Senate seat currently held by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Thompson and Otterbein had previously reported that Ocasio-Cortez has been hiring a number of veterans of Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, which took a hard left turn on social issues as compared to his 2016 effort.
One recent AtlasIntel survey found that at Ocasio-Cortez is leading a hypothetical 2028 Democratic primary field at 26%.
She was followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (22.4%) California Governor Gavin Newsom (21.2%) and former Vice President Kamala Harris (12.9%).
