Buzz is buliding aroung a potential 2028 presidential run by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the progressive lawmaker smashes fundraising records and draws record crowds to rallies in red states.
Polling guru Nate Silver Thursday even predicted Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) will be the next Democratic nominee for the White House.
“I thought I was gonna surprise everyone by taking AOC first,” Silver tweeted, referring to the fact that his colleague Galen Druke also placed Ocasio-Cortez on top of his own early 2028 list. “That was going to be my … first pick,” he added.
Silver and Druke agreed Ocasio-Cortez has the charisma and popularity to make a huge splash in the still-embryonic Democratic White House race, citing her impressive polling and fundraising numbers.
“There’s a lot of points in her favor at this very moment,” Druke said on the Silver Buliletin substack podcast. “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has broad appeal across the Democratic Party.”
Ocasio-Cortez, 35, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens in Congress, has remarkably high name recognition and popularity among Democratic voters nationwide.
She recently smashed her own fundraising record by raking in $9.6 million in the first quarter of 2025 for her congressional reelection campaign.
The impressive haul included average donations of $21 and 266,000 individual donors, nearly two-thirds of whom were first-time givers, figures that reflect wide and growing appeal among voters.
Ocasio-Cortez is headlining a string of major political rallies alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), drawing overflow crowds of more than 10,000 in deep-red states like Utah, Idaho and Montana.
In a possible preview of a White House pitch, Ocasio-Cortez touted herself as a former waitress who knows how to turn the political establishment on its head.
“I know that it can look or feel impossible sometimes out here for the Republicans to be defeated, but that is not true,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “From the waitress who is now speaking to you today, I can tell you: impossible is nothing.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who only recently became old enough to serve as president, had already been mentioned as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Chuck Schumer, who faces reelection in 2028.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has topped most Democratic White House lists, although she is said to be leaning towards running for governor of California.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is also thought to be testing the presidential waters, along with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer.