Ocasio-Cortez Raises Eyebrows With 2028 Comments

It may seem early to focus on 2028, but the next presidential election is already generating plenty of attention.

Potential candidates are making moves, speculation is growing, and early developments are giving voters plenty to watch.

If the latest signs are any indication, the road to the White House could become far more competitive—and unpredictable—than many expected.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is maintaining the possibility of running for president in 2028 after a recent survey revealed the New York Democrat as the top pick among potential Democratic contenders.

When Fox News Digital asked her if she wanted to run for the Democratic nomination in 2028, she avoided answering.

“I have genuinely not really weighed seriously anything past the midterm elections,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News Digital when asked if she is interested in a run.

“I think that I’m taking in this information just like anybody else,” Ocasio-Cortez added.

When Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, is up for reelection in two years, the progressive House Democrat has frequently considered running for both the presidency and the Senate.

Ocasio-Cortez has supported several socialists who have beaten both incumbents and establishment Democrats in their primaries.

Ocasio-Cortez has vaulted to the top of the early 2028 Democratic presidential field in New Hampshire, narrowly edging out former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg while leaving former Vice President Kamala Harris languishing far behind in a new University of New Hampshire poll.

Ocasio-Cortez captured 22% support among likely Democratic primary voters in the Granite State Poll released Wednesday, one point ahead of the more moderate Buttigieg and a full 17 points ahead of Harris.

AOC gained seven points since the February survey, even as Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom saw their support erode — further evidence of Ocasio-Cortez’s rising influence among the Democratic base in this key early battleground state and her growing stature on the party’s left flank.

WATCH:

Ocasio-Cortez has remained deliberately vague about her 2028 ambitions, carefully refusing to rule out either a White House bid to succeed term-limited President Donald Trump or a primary challenge against longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who faces re-election in two years.

When pressed on a potential run for higher office, Ocasio-Cortez recently declared that her goal is to “change the country.”

Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor who finished second in the 2020 New Hampshire primary as a relative moderate, has spent the past year traveling the country to boost fellow Democrats amid mounting speculation about a possible 2028 campaign of his own.

“Nearly half of socialists and one-third of progressives support Ocasio-Cortez, while pluralities of liberals and moderates support Buttigieg,” Andrew Smith, the director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said.

Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, the retired astronaut, came in third at 9%, with the term-limited Newsom trailing by a point. The California governor’s numbers plummeted seven points from February.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the self-described democratic socialist who finished as runner-up in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries, registered just 6%.

The 84-year-old Sanders, asked about yet another White House run, said last month, “I suspect that’s not going to happen.” He jokingly added, “I know I look like I’m 30. I am not.”

Harris, the party’s 2024 nominee after she replaced then-President Joe Biden — who exited the race less than four months before Election Day following a disastrous debate performance against Trump — managed only 5% support in the latest poll, down from 10% in February.

While the former vice president’s showing in New Hampshire is underwhelming at best, she still leads the average of the most recent national polls in the hypothetical 2028 Democratic contest. Early-cycle surveys are frequently skewed by name recognition alone.

The rest of the crowded field of potential contenders tested in the New Hampshire poll scored 2% or less.

New Hampshire served as the first-in-the-nation presidential primary for a century until Democrats overhauled their nominating calendar for 2024, elevating South Carolina to the lead-off spot.

The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel is expected Friday to release a proposed calendar for 2028, which would then face a vote at the DNC’s summer meeting in Austin, Texas, next month.

Republicans, by contrast, have left their calendar unchanged, preserving the Iowa caucuses as the opening contest followed by New Hampshire.

On the Republican side, 36% of likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire backed Vice President JD Vance, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 26%.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who sought the nomination in 2016 and is weighing another run, tied with former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — the 2024 runner-up to Trump — at 8%.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another 2024 contender, drew 6%, while the remaining candidates tested scored 4% or less.