Prominent Democrats say Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has secured her spot as an ideological leader of the party after a New Hampshire poll showed her as a presidential front-runner for 2028.
Still, most Democrats are not ready to say whether she would be a strong candidate.
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, but she said her “main focus” is the November midterm elections.
Still, the polling raises 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 whether 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 whether 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 Twitch 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 36, one year older than the constitutional requirement to serve as president. She will be 39 on Election Day in 2028. The youngest major-party presidential nominee in history is William Jennings Bryan, who was 36 when Democrats nominated him in 1896 (he lost).
Rep. George Latimer, New York Democrat, told The Times it is “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 Rep. Jamaal Bowman — a member of the far-left “Squad” faction — in a primary. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been associated with that same faction.
He said he looks forward to evaluating all the candidates when they visit 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 and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said: “The sky is the limit for 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 2½ 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. Diana DeGette, Colorado Democrat.
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