Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she hasn’t ruled out a potential run for president or Senate in 2028

Ocasio-Cortez’s Ambition and the Democratic Party’s Future

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has been a rising star in the Democratic Party since her election in 2018. Her potential run for president or the Senate in 2028 is significant because it could signal a shift in the party’s direction and potentially impact the 2028 presidential election.

Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on Sunday’s ABC’s “This Week” echoed remarks she’s made while campaigning for congressional candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections. She emphasized her focus on winning the midterms and has begun the process of freezing her eggs, a personal milestone she revealed on Instagram last week.

The congresswoman’s political future has been the subject of speculation for years as she’s wielded her national political power to endorse insurgent progressive candidates who have beaten more moderate, establishment candidates with bigger campaign war chests. Most recently, Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate who pledged to reject funding for Israel and promote “Medicare for All,” beat Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., in the Great Lakes State’s Democratic primary for Senate last week, overcoming the tens of millions of dollars spent by Stevens’ supporters to attack him.

Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement and the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who ran for president twice as a progressive, anti-establishment alternative to traditional Democrats, fueled El-Sayed’s victory. Sanders has all but ruled out another presidential run in 2028, drawing questions about who might take up the mantle of the movement he began in 2016. Ocasio-Cortez, to some, appears to be a natural successor, especially as she and Sanders crisscrossed the nation together since the last presidential election, urging supporters to fight oligarchy and support Medicare for All.

In July, while campaigning for El-Sayed in Michigan, the congresswoman told Politico when asked about a presidential run: “I mean, I can’t say that I’ve ruled it out.” She was first elected to Congress in 2018, winning her party’s nomination for New York’s 14th Congressional District in a shocking upset to the Queens machine after she challenged longtime Rep. David Crowley in the Democratic primary.

On Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez reflected on her political rise since 2018, telling Karl: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be able to represent the working people of my congressional district. And I think some of the ways that it’s changed me has been to be able to come in with so many aspirations for our country, and then to have the remarkable opportunity to be in the arena and try to make the country a better place, challenges and all.” “And I love that it’s hard,” she added. “I love that I have to and I get to engage with people from all across the country, elected officials from all across the country, to try to actually fulfill our dreams to guarantee healthcare to every American.”