AOC Doesn’t Rule Out 2028 Presidential Run
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is doing something that will inevitably send both Democrats and Republicans into another round of political speculation: she is refusing to close the door on a potential 2028 presidential campaign.
The New York congresswoman was pressed about her political future during a Sunday interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl on This Week. The question came at a particularly interesting moment for Ocasio-Cortez, who has suddenly found herself at the top of a new New Hampshire poll of potential Democratic presidential candidates.
Asked directly whether she would run for president, Ocasio-Cortez initially pointed toward the immediate political future rather than 2028. “I’m focused on winning the midterms. I’m running for Congress right now,” she said. But when Karl pressed her about whether a presidential campaign was actually a realistic possibility, AOC made her most significant statement yet about the 2028 race.
“I haven’t ruled out the possibility,” she said, adding that she was “very humbled” by the support she is seeing. She then emphasized that Democrats should remain focused on the 2026 midterm elections rather than individual politicians’ ambitions. She also added, “I think that we have a responsibility to remain focused on the mid-terms…not on our own individual aspirations and plans.”
Karl then raised another possibility that could dramatically reshape New York politics: a potential Senate challenge against longtime Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer. AOC’s answer was even less restrictive.
“I think that anything is possible at this juncture,” she said.
That may sound like classic political noncommittal language, but coming from one of the Democratic Party’s most recognizable figures, it is hard to dismiss. Ocasio-Cortez is not announcing a presidential campaign, but she is also clearly not asking anyone to stop talking about one.
The New Hampshire Numbers
The speculation became considerably more interesting after a University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll showed Ocasio-Cortez leading the Democratic field among likely New Hampshire primary voters.
The July survey of 648 likely Democratic primary voters found AOC with 22% support, narrowly ahead of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 21%. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly was third with 9%, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 8%, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 6% and former Vice President Kamala Harris at 5%.
The numbers are particularly notable because nobody else in the survey even reached double digits besides Ocasio-Cortez and Buttigieg. In other words, the Democratic field currently looks less like a settled race and more like a political junk drawer. There is also a longer-term trend worth watching. AOC’s support in the New Hampshire polling has risen substantially compared with earlier surveys. The University of New Hampshire’s February poll had Buttigieg, Ocasio-Cortez and Newsom among the leading Democratic possibilities, while the latest survey puts AOC alone at the top.
New Hampshire obviously does not represent the entire Democratic electorate, and the 2028 primary calendar has not yet been finalized. The state also lost its traditional position as the Democrats’ first presidential primary state in the party’s 2024 calendar fight. Still, New Hampshire has a long history of giving relatively unknown candidates an early boost and generating enormous media attention around unexpected contenders.
For AOC, the poll provides something even more valuable than a few percentage points: evidence that there is an electorate willing to consider her as a presidential candidate.
From Bartender to Potential Presidential Candidate
The remarkable part of the AOC story is how quickly the political trajectory has changed.
In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez was a 28-year-old political newcomer and former bartender who challenged powerful Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley in New York. Almost nobody outside progressive political circles expected her to win.
She did.
That upset transformed her into one of the most recognizable young politicians in America and helped establish her as the leading face of the modern progressive movement. Eight years later, she is no longer simply an insurgent congresswoman attacking Democratic leadership from the outside. She has become one of the party’s most influential figures.
AOC Says the Democratic Party Is Changing
AOC described the Democratic Party as being in a “time of renewal” and argued that younger voters and progressive candidates are injecting new energy into the party.
Her argument is essentially that the Democratic Party’s future depends on reconnecting with working-class voters through issues such as housing, healthcare and grocery prices.
She also argued that Democrats need to reach young voters wherever they happen to be, including alternative media platforms. That means appearing on podcasts, Fox News and other outlets that Democratic politicians have traditionally been reluctant to embrace.
AOC specifically pointed to the party’s struggles with young voters and argued that Democrats need to build a broader coalition instead of simply talking to people who already agree with them.
That is a somewhat different political posture from the image of AOC that dominated headlines during her first years in Congress.
But There Is a Huge Problem for AOC
Being popular with Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire is one thing. Winning the Democratic nomination is another. Winning a general election is an entirely different animal.
AOC remains a deeply polarizing political figure. Her democratic-socialist identity is likely to become one of the biggest issues surrounding any potential presidential campaign.
During the interview, Karl confronted her with some of the more controversial positions associated with the Democratic Socialist movement, including proposals to abolish the Senate, eliminate or dramatically reduce the role of police and prisons, and reduce the U.S. military footprint.
Ocasio-Cortez explicitly said she does not support some of those positions. She also emphasized that she remains a member of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America rather than the national organization.
Republicans would almost certainly make AOC’s political history a centerpiece of a presidential campaign. Her critics would argue that her progressive agenda is far outside the American political mainstream. Her supporters would argue that the political mainstream itself is changing.
That argument may become one of the defining battles of the 2028 election.
The 2028 Democratic Race Is Wide Open
The biggest takeaway is that there is currently no obvious Democratic heir apparent for 2028.
Potential contenders include Buttigieg, Newsom, Harris, Mark Kelly, governors such as Andy Beshear and Josh Shapiro, and several other Democratic figures. Reuters has described the emerging field as an unusually open contest, with no official Democratic candidate having declared this far ahead of the election.
AOC now belongs in that conversation whether she wants the job or not.
Her New Hampshire numbers give her an early claim to the title of potential Democratic frontrunner in at least one important early-state survey. Her national name recognition is enormous. She has a loyal progressive base. She has demonstrated an ability to raise money and generate attention. And, perhaps most importantly, she has spent years building a political identity that extends well beyond her congressional district.
But there is still a gigantic distance between being the favorite of 22% of New Hampshire Democrats in an early poll and becoming president of the United States. For now, AOC is keeping her cards close to the vest. She says she is focused on the 2026 midterms, refuses to officially declare herself a 2028 candidate, and simultaneously refuses to rule out either the White House or the Senate.
In Washington, that is usually how politicians say, “I’m thinking about it,” without actually saying it. And if the polls keep moving in her direction, the rest of the Democratic Party may soon have to start thinking about it too.
