Zohran Mamdani's upset over Andrew Cuomo fuels AOC 2028 buzz
Speculation is swirling about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's plans for 2028 after she successfully endorsed dark-horse socialist Zohran Mamdani in the heated New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
Many observers believe the lefty 'Squad' member will try to move up from her House seat — whether to the Senate or even the White House — in the aftermath of Mamdani's stunning upset over ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday night.
'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.'
Advertisement
The 35-year-old Bronx and Queens congresswoman was perhaps the most high-profile Democrat to throw her weight behind Mamdani, 33, at a time when he was widely seen as the underdog in the race.
Cuomo, a thrice-elected Democrat, got the backing of establishment party members, like South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn and former President Bill Clinton — but still lagged behind Mamdani by 7 points in the ranked-choice voting contest.
'You can always count on her being underestimated for sure, that's a given,' Trent said of AOC.
Advertisement
Mamdani's shocking victory 'gives her a little bit of a national victory, more national attention for going in the right direction and backing the right horse,' he added.
Other Democratic operatives and aides endorsed the view that Ocasio-Cortez would interpret the socialist's ascent as proof that her style of grassroots, progressive politicking could triumph in the next presidential contest.
But some cautioned that Cuomo's defeat was more a result of his own bad brand.
'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.'
Advertisement
4 The Bronx and Queens rep had been one of the most high-profile Democrats to endorse Zohran Mamdani in the Big Apple Democratic mayoral primary.
LP Media
4 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew big crowds while campaigning with Zohran Mamdani.
William Miller
Almost seven years ago, Ocasio-Cortez had a similar breakthrough moment when she bested bigwig former House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in a 2018 primary.
The big question now is whether Ocasio-Cortez will seek Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) seat or the presidency 10 years after her meteoric rise from bartender to congresswoman.
Advertisement
One Democratic operative told The 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.).
'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.
Advertisement
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, 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,' Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) said on X after Mamdani's victory, noting his account wasn't hacked.
'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.
Advertisement
4 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is enjoying significant speculation about her 2028 ambitions.
AP
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.
Advertisement
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 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.
Advertisement
4 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has not said whether he will seek election again in 2028.
REUTERS
'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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
28 minutes ago
Trump admin live updates: Senate to begin 'One Big Beautiful Bill' vote-a-rama Monday
The Senate on Sunday afternoon began debate on President Donald Trump's megabill for his second term priorities after a dramatic procedural vote late Saturday night. There could be up to 20 hours of debate. While Democrats will use their allotted 10 hours, Republicans are expected not to. The Senate will begin its "vote-a-rama" at 9 a.m. Monday, during which time senators will offer amendments to the bill. Overnight Sunday, the Senate parliamentarian ruled more provisions out of order with the reconciliation process Republicans are using to pass the bill with a simple majority. If it passes in the Senate, the bill goes back to the House to consider changes the Senate made to the House's version of the bill, which passed by one vote.
Boston Globe
37 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
‘Nepo baby' Zohran Mamdani is still a breath of fresh air
If Zohran Mamdani's 'luxury beliefs' turn out to be even half as effective as those of fellow 'nepo baby' Franklin Delano Roosevelt's — social security, minimum wage, and that pie-in-the-sky idea of a 40-hour workweek — he will be a great mayor. Sandy Huckleberry Jamaica Plain Globe Opinion writer Carine Hajjar's analysis of Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York mayoral primary fails on several counts. First of all, her accounts of being harassed on the New York City subway presumably happened under current or prior administrations. None of them are socialist. How Mamdani will handle subway crime is unknown at this point. Bernie Sanders, a strong supporter of Mamdani, is hardly a self-soothing progressive. He is a genuine populist, and presumably so is Mamdani, who cites Boston's Mayor Michelle Wu as a role model. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up As for calling him a nepo baby, where does that come from? His father is a professor and his mother is a film director. So what? Is no one with a college degree allowed to be a populist? Advertisement Michael Keating Cambridge In her recent column, columnist Carine Hajjar turns her sights on Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. She paints a picture of a city beset by dangerous, mentally ill, unhoused people, and insinuates that 'nepo baby' Mamdani doesn't have the best interests of New York's most vulnerable, particularly women, at heart. She cynically pits various groups against each other to advocate for more policing. Advertisement Ironically, she fails to acknowledge that the aforesaid crimes and misdemeanors are happening on the watch of 'tough on crime' Mayor Eric Adams. Similarly, while bemoaning the experiences of harassment faced by women, she makes no mention of Andrew Cuomo's well-known history of harassing his female staffers and employees. Cuomo, a former New York governor, conceded New York City's Democratic mayoral primary to Mamdani on Wednesday. Hajjar suggests that Mamdani's ideas for advances in mental health care and community violence prevention are pointless — dangerous, even. Yet we know from our experience here in Boston that these types of innovative community violence prevention efforts do, in fact, work. It is just such initiatives, put in place by Mayor Michelle Wu, that have helped crime rates in our city Katie Sutton Hingham New Yorkers rejected the Democratic status quo While no one can predict how successful Zohran Mamdani will eventually be, there is little doubt that his victory was due to an overwhelming desire on the part of New Yorkers to believe in, to quote from his victory speech, 'the power of the politics of the future: one of partnership and sincerity.' Bruce Goldberg Newburyport Mamdani only promises more chaos Carine Hajjar states that the current NYC policies — such as neglect of the mentally ill and the homeless, and the deliberate nonenforcement of misdemeanor crimes, have made everyday life more miserable and dysfunctional in the city. Mamdani promises more of the same, only less law enforcement in the interest of public safety and even more neglect. How would that lead to better personal security, cleaner neighborhoods, and an improved quality of life? Advertisement J Q Public
an hour ago
Debate is underway in the Senate on Trump's big bill, but overnight voting is delayed
WASHINGTON -- Debate has been underway in the Senate late into the night, with Republicans wrestling President Donald Trump's big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts over mounting Democratic opposition — and even some brake-pumping over the budget slashing by the president himself. The outcome from the weekend of work in the Senate remains uncertain and highly volatile, and overnight voting has been pushed off until Monday. GOP leaders are rushing to meet Trump's Fourth of July deadline to pass the package, but they barely secured enough support to muscle it past a procedural Saturday night hurdle in a tense scene. A handful of Republican holdouts revolted, and it took phone calls from Trump and a visit from Vice President JD Vance to keep it on track. GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced Sunday he would not seek reelection after Trump badgered him for saying he could not vote for the bill with its steep Medicaid cuts. A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. It also said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade. But other Senate Republicans, along with conservatives in the House, are pushing for steeper cuts, particularly to health care, drawing their own unexpected warning from Trump. 'Don't go too crazy!' the president posted on social media. 'REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected.' All told, the Senate bill includes some $4 trillion in tax cuts, making permanent Trump's 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. The Senate package would roll back billions in green energy tax credits that Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide, and impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work requirements and making sign-up eligibility more stringent. Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for border and national security, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants. If the Senate can pass the bill, it would need to return to the House. Speaker Mike Johnson has told lawmakers to be on call for a return to Washington this week. Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill, the Democrats as the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay and drag out the process. Democrats forced a full reading of the text, which took some 16 hours. Then senators took over the debate, filling the chamber with speeches, while Republicans largely stood aside. 'Reckless and irresponsible," said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan. "A gift to the billionaire class,' said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now 'current policy' and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits. 'In my 33 years here in the United States Senate, things have never — never — worked this way,' said Murray, the longest-serving Democrat on the Budget Committee. She said that kind of 'magic math' won't fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books. "Go back home and try that game with your constituents," she said. 'We still need to kick people off their health care — that's too expensive. We still need to close those hospitals — we have to cut costs. And we still have to kick people off SNAP — because the debt is out of control.' Sanders said Tillis' decision not to seek reelection shows the hold that Trump's cult of personality has over the GOP. 'We are literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids,' Sanders said, while giving tax breaks to Jeff Bezos and other wealthy billionaires. Republicans are using their majorities to push aside Democratic opposition, and appeared undeterred, even as they have run into a series of political and policy setbacks. "We're going to pass the 'Big, beautiful bill," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman. The holdout Republicans remain reluctant to give their votes, and their leaders have almost no room to spare, given their narrow majorities. Essentially, they can afford three dissenters in the Senate, with its 53-47 GOP edge, and about as many in the House, if all members are present and voting. Trump, who has at times allowed wiggle room on his deadline, kept the pressure on lawmakers to finish. He threatened to campaign against Tillis, who was worried that Medicaid cuts would leave many without health care in his state. Trump badgered Tillis again on Sunday morning, saying the senator 'has hurt the great people of North Carolina.' Later Sunday, Tillis issued a lengthy statement announcing he would not seek reelection in 2026. In an impassioned evening speech, Tillis shared his views arguing the Senate approach is a betrayal of Trump's promise not to kick people off health care. 'We could take the time to get this right,' he thundered. But until then, he said he would remain opposed. Using a congressional process called budget reconciliation, the Republicans can rely on a simple majority vote in the Senate, rather than the typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome objections. Without the filibuster, Democrats have latched on to other tools to mount their objections. One is the full reading of the bill text, which has been done in past situations. Democrats also intended to use their full 10 hours of available debate time, which was underway. And then Democrats are prepared to propose dozens of amendments to the package, a process called vote-a-rama. But Republicans late Sunday postponed that expected overnight session to early Monday. As Saturday's vote tally teetered, attention turned to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who was surrounded by GOP leaders in intense conversation. She voted 'yes.' Several provisions in the package are designed for her state in Alaska, but some were out of compliance of the strict rules by the Senate parliamentarian. A short time later, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., drew holdouts Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming to his office. Vance joined in. Later, Scott said, 'We all want to get to yes.'
