Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., known as “AOC,” has refrained from announcing whether she will seek a Senate seat or run for president. That has not stopped supporters from organizing on her behalf.
Ocasio-Cortez’s chances of running for a Senate seat before April 1, 2028, stand at 73%, an increase from 45% a week ago. Meanwhile, her odds of winning the 2028 presidential election stand at nearly 10%, roughly where they were before Election Day, Kalshi data shows, and traders give her a 62% chance of running for the 2028 Democratic nomination.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backed Ocasio-Cortez: “I think that she would make an amazing whatever it is that she wants to run for,” Mamdani said Nov. 9, The New York Times reported. “I know that the congresswoman makes her determinations on the basis of the most amount of good she can do for the largest number of working people.” Both are democratic socialists.
A political organization called Ready for AOC, consisting of progressive activists, announced Monday that it was rolling out an initiative to encourage Ocasio-Cortez to run for president. The aim is to mount a grassroots movement in case she runs and “demonstrate to her that, ‘Look, there is a movement behind you ready to power you to victory should you choose to run for president,’” Ravi Sahai told the Times. Sahai is a spokesman for the organization who has worked for Mamdani and Rep.-elect Claire Valdez.
Courting labor allies
As Ocasio-Cortez weighs her options, Mamdani has been coalition-building with union leaders and preparing a Plan B in case she does not run.
“Behind closed doors, Mamdani has made a striking admission that helps explain why he's so eager to huddle with allies about 2028: He's uncertain whether New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, his close political partner, will launch a White House run, the sources said,” Axios reported on Nov. 8.
“If Ocasio-Cortez stays out of the 2028 race, it would upend the Democratic primary — and potentially leave the party's insurgent left without a candidate,” Axios said.
Mamdani has met Jimmy Williams Jr., head of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The mayor also plans to speak with Shawn Fain, president of the United Automobile Workers, who has a 32% chance of running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, an increase from 23% at the start of the week.
Mamdani’s meetings with Williams, Nelson and Fain are efforts to “build labor support for the best progressive presidential candidate in order to counter any momentum from a more moderate Democrat as the 2028 presidential race draws near,” according to the Times, citing the mayor’s political aides.
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