With the midterm elections on Tuesday, attention will soon turn to the 2028 presidential race.
In the coming months, potential 2028 candidates will start announcing exploratory committees, visiting early primary states, and even declaring they plan to run for president.
AOC. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
AOC. Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot.
Several prominent Democrats, including Governors Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, and J.B. Pritzker, have been floated as possible candidates for 2028, and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris could also opt to give the White House again.
And another name has been floated of late as a potential 2028 hopeful: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Sen. Bernie Sanders, now in his 80s, appears unlikely to make a third bid for the White House, so someone else will likely try to take over the left-wing flank Sanders has run on in the last two widely contested Democratic presidential primaries, in 2016 and 2020.
A lot of people have floated the possibility that AOC could make a run for president in two years, and one of those people is a Republican who has himself been mentioned as a possible 2028 contender.
Cruz on AOC
According to Newsweek, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that he thinks that AOC may very well emerge as the Democratic nominee for president in 2028- and that she could also conceivably win the general election.
The comments came while Cruz delivered a campaign speech this week in Michigan, where he declared that “the eyes of the country” are on that state, and predicted that if Democrat Abdul El-Sayed wins the Senate race there, “the Democrat presidential nominee in 2028 will be AOC.”
“In the primary, the number one argument against AOC is that she’s too extreme to win the general,” Cruz said, delivering a bit of political analysis in a campaign rally setting. “If El-Sayed wins, they’ll say nope…. You can nominate a complete moonbat, and a swing state like Michigan will vote for him.”
Looking ahead to the 2028 general election, Cruz warned that AOC, if she gets the Democratic nomination, could win.
“I just want to warn you- we’re a divided country,” Cruz said, making the odd statement that “how many people on September 11, 2001, could have possibly imagined that Zohran Mamdani would be the mayor of New York City?”
As Mamdani was nine years old at the time, not many people probably could have.
“If AOC is the nominee,” Cruz warned, “she could win.”
Contacting Newsweek, Democratic strategist Eddie Vale questioned Cruz’s analysis that the Michigan Senate race will serve as a harbinger of 2028.
“From Trump winning twice to what is looking like a potentially wild midterm,” Vale told Newsweek, “with different kinds of Democrats winning in all kinds of states and districts, everyone needs to head into 2028 with a big dose of humility.”
Will She Run?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won an upset primary victory to win a seat in Congress in 2018, has not announced whether she will run for president.
She has also been floated as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate in New York, especially if Sen. Chuck Schumer decides to retire after his current term.
AOC told the New York Times in September that she will weigh her next move after the midterm elections.
Ocasio-Cortez, if elected, would be the first woman president, the first Hispanic president, almost certainly the leftmost president, and the first unmarried president since James Buchanan, before the Civil War.
This week, a memo from AOC’s camp to “interested parties and allies” leaked, titled “How AOC Wins in 2026.” It looked at what the Congresswoman has been doing over the last two years, particularly her outreach to voters in her district who voted for both her and Donald Trump.
During the election cycle, the memo says, the Congresswoman “spoke in person to more than 235,000 Americans and moved more than $3 million in direct contributions and small-dollar fundraising to help Democrats win up and down the ballot.”
The memo also includes a note at the bottom about a possible future presidential campaign.
“You may be asked whether you support her running for President or for Senate in New York or staying in the House of Representatives,” the memo advises AOC’s allies. “We’d recommend you rely on the details of this memo and answer that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will continue to do what she’s always done: look for ways to do the most good for the most people.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
