Congressional Democrats say AOC has emerged as party leader, but less sure about ‘28 prospects

Prominent Democrats say Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has secured her spot as an ideological leader of the party, following a New Hampshire poll that showed her as a presidential frontrunner for 2028.

But most Democrats are not ready to say whether she would be a strong candidate in the upcoming presidential race.

A University of New Hampshire poll published Wednesday showed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez leading the pack among potential Democratic candidates in the Granite State, with 22% support, just ahead of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 21%.

Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona Democrat, placed a distant third with 9% backing. The state is an important traditional primary battleground.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, as usual, avoided committing to a presidential run when asked about the polling.

“I am … very deeply humbled and grateful to folks who participate and convey that confidence,” she told a reporter for The Independent in response to the data, adding that her “main focus” is the November midterm elections.

Still, the polling begs the question of whether Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, once associated with the far-left fringe of the Democratic Party, would have a chance as a national candidate.

“Yeah,” Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat, emphatically told The Washington Times when asked if he thinks Ms. Ocasio-Cortez would be a viable candidate.

“I think she’s an incredible member of the House and she’s effective and a lot of people appreciate her leadership, so yeah,” Mr. McGovern said. “I don’t know whether she’s interested in it and doing that, but a lot of people follow her and respect her.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, when asked if the polling suggests Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a viable candidate, replied, “Evidently in New Hampshire she would be. … But I think we’re going to have a very important and energetic race, and she hasn’t even said that she is going to be a candidate, so I’m not going to speculate.”

Although it is too early for most elected officials to pick sides in a hypothetical presidential race, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has gained backing from some left-wing pundits.

Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker recently told the outlet Zeteo, “AOC is the only one that I would like” when given the chance to choose from a list of potential Democratic candidates for president. He called her “a fantastic left candidate.”

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is age 36, one year older than the constitutional requirement to serve as president. She will be 38 in November 2028. The youngest major-party presidential nominee in history is William Jennings Bryan, whom Democrats nominated in 1896 when he was 36 (he lost).

Rep. George Latimer, a New York Democrat, told The Times it’s “too soon to comment on the presidential race” and that the “polling data now… reflects name recognition” of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.

Mr. Latimer came to Congress in 2024 after defeating former Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a primary — a member of the far-left “squad” faction of the House that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been associated with.

He said he looks forward to evaluating all the candidates when they come to his district, a common stop on fundraising tours.

“Westchester [County] is a place where presidential candidates come through to raise money because there is money to be raised there, so I think I’m going to get a chance to hear them all,” he said. “And Alexandria, certainly she’s local — in the area. But you want to hear them all.”

Rep. Greg Casar, Texas Democrat who chairs the House’s Progressive Caucus, said: “The sky is the limit, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, but she is going to make her own decisions about this, just as everybody else should.”

Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, said it is “absurd to be talking about a presidential election two-and-a-half years before the election.”

However, Mr. Sanders, who has rallied alongside Ms. Ocasio-Cortez across the nation, affirmed that he considers her an ideological leader.

“She’s extraordinarily articulate,” he said. “She’s inspiring a whole generation of young people to get involved in the political process, and I think she’s clearly one of the great progressive leaders in the country today.”

Sanders-endorsed socialists are on a roll in Democratic congressional primaries.

In June, two Sanders-endorsed candidates won U.S. House primary races in New York, and socialist Melat Kiros unseated three-decade incumbent Rep. Diane DeGette, Colorado Democrat.