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AOC backs Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayor race, could this lead to her 2028 presidential run?
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s support of Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayor win has created a buzz about her possible Senate run or even a 2028 presidential bid.
Buzz is building around Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s possible plans for 2028 after she backed Zohran Mamdani in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary — and he pulled off a surprise win.
Some political watchers believe the progressive congresswoman might be gearing up for a bigger move — maybe toward the Senate, or even a presidential bid — after Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a stunning upset Tuesday night, as cited by New York post reports.
“It just continues to open more doors,” Corbin Trent, Ocasio-Cortez’s former spokesperson and author of America’s Undoing Substack, told The Post. “It just broadens her horizons.” At 35, the Bronx-Queens lawmaker was one of the most prominent Democrats to back Mamdani, 33, when few gave him a real chance.
Also Read: Zohran Mamdani, 33, billed as ‘America’s Sharma ji ka beta’ by internet after defeating Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo was supported by various establishment figures
Cuomo, a three-term Democratic governor, was supported by establishment figures like Rep. Jim Clyburn and former President Bill Clinton — but Mamdani still beat him by 7 points in the ranked-choice vote.
“You can always count on her being underestimated for sure, that’s a given,” Trent said of AOC. Several Democratic insiders said Ocasio-Cortez might take Mamdani’s victory as proof that progressive, grassroots politics could be successful on the national stage.
Others, however, argued the loss had more to do with Cuomo himself.
“He had the consulting class, the lobbyists, and nasty operatives, and then his own track record,” one Dem operative assessed. “There’s nothing to like.” Ocasio-Cortez had her own breakout moment in 2018, when she unseated longtime Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in a major upset.
Rapid rise from bartender to….
The question that arises now is whether AOC will challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in 2028 or aim for the White House, a decade after her rapid rise from bartender to congresswoman.
One Democratic operative told the New York Post Post that AOC was still more likely to be making a move against Schumer in the 2028 primary. But another suggested such a challenge would pale in comparison to “doing [presidential] rallies across the country,” in the same vein as Ocasio-Cortez’s recent “Fight Oligarchy” events with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Per a New York post report, “The polls say she would beat Schumer at primary, and I think, you see her and Bernie going through some upstate New York tours, I think you’d absolutely see more than you’d expect,” Trent said of her potential.
“People know they’re getting screwed. And I think you go out there and tell that message. It’ll resonate,” he added, in a reference to Mamdani’s platform that stressed affordability. A third Democratic aide speculated that the left flank of the party will also use Mamdani’s win to make the case that AOC will be a viable candidate for the party’s presidential nom in 2028.
But the democratic socialist’s win is also exciting Republicans who will have plenty of “fodder” — such as Mamdani’s pie-in-the-sky plans for government-run grocery stores and his anti-police and anti-Israel rhetoric.
Those issues will be tough for Democrats to “navigate” between now and the 2026 midterms, according to a fourth party insider. Around the time that Cuomo conceded to Mamdani, Ocasio-Cortez’s odds of clinching the Democratic nomination in 2028 spiked dramatically.
The Democratic primary is generally seen as pretty wide open, with the party struggling to regain its footing after the drubbing it received in 2024.
‘The Democrat Party should stop wasting time’
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) said on X after Mamdani’s victory, noting his account wasn’t hacked, “The Democrat Party should stop wasting time, just crown AOC the 2028 nominee now! She’s a foreign policy mastermind, her legislative wins are too many to count, and she clearly speaks for Democrat leadership."
“This is the candidate who can unite climate alarmists, people who think economics is a vibe, and believe that we’re all just citizens of the world. Run AOC, Run!” If she were to run and win in the next presidential race, she would become the first female and youngest person in US history to hold the office.
There’s also the possibility AOC could try to go up against Schumer in 2028, when the five-term senator is up for re-election.
Schumer drew wrath from the progressive base in March when he declined to block a GOP bill to prevent a partial government shutdown.
Ocasio-Cortez had been one of the leading voices pushing for a shutdown showdown. Multiple polls have since found her beating him, should she choose to run against him.
She declined to challenge Schumer in 2022 and the minority leader has not yet said publicly whether or not he will even pursue re-election in 2028.
Schumer congratulated Mamdani
Schumer congratulated Mamdani on his win Wednesday, but unlike Ocasio-Cortez, he has stopped short of outright endorsing the former rapper and two-term state assemblyman as he gears up for a general election race against Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent.
Many top GOP voices in the Empire State believe Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez are on a collision course against one another. “Tonight’s biggest winner is [Ocasio-Cortez]. [Schumer] is cooked in a Democratic primary in 2028,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) mused Tuesday evening, re-upping his longstanding prognostication.
Trent, who concluded that Mamdani’s win probably isn’t impacting AOC’s 2028 decision-making process too significantly, described his former boss as the “Michael Jordan” of political messaging. “There’s no question about that,” he said of her ability to communicate effectively.
