AOC weighs 2028 bid as Democrats push for new generation of leaders

Axios reported Friday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is weighing a potential bid for president or the U.S. Senate in 2028, as Democrats map a path after former President Donald Trump’s decisive victory in 2024. The New York Democrat has not publicly committed to a Senate or White House bid, but her team has begun positioning for the late-2020s run by hiring advisers connected to Bernie Sanders’ orbit and by joining Sanders on a national tour called Fighting Oligarchy that has aimed to highlight progressive policy priorities.

Her circle has not confirmed a decision, but the move signals how some Democratic figures are preparing for a contested path back to the White House or to the Senate as the party recalibrates after recent electoral losses.

Fox News Digital spoke with Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Shasti Conrad Thursday, ahead of Axios’ report, to discuss the party’s leadership needs as Democrats search for a broad slate of potential national figures. Conrad cited a spectrum of names she said the party could rally around, including Zohran Mamdani, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear, arguing that the party needs “hundreds of leaders” across the country. “We need Mamdani to Pete to Kamala to (Minnesota Gov. Tim) Walz to (California Gov.) Gavin Newsom … to (Kentucky Gov.) Andy Beshear to, you know, AOC,” she said, framing a multi-figure bench as essential to carrying Democrats back into power and pushing back on Trump’s policies every day.

This exchange comes as the Democratic Party maps out its future following Trump’s 2024 victory. Conrad said the party’s challenge is to present a wide field of credible communicators rather than rely on a single leader. “We need messengers across this country talking about what Democrats stand for, what we will do when we get back in power, how we will make a difference in people’s lives.”

Beyond the 2028 chatter, the political landscape includes ongoing debate about which figures might lead the party in a post-Trump era. Analysts have floated Kamala Harris as a potential candidate for 2028, should she choose to run again, while others have suggested Buttigieg or other high-profile figures could pursue higher office. The conversation is part of a broader narrative about Democrats’ need to cultivate a deep bench capable of energizing voters and articulating a clear alternative to Republican leadership.

Separately, attention to internal dynamics within the Biden administration has persisted in public discussions of 2028. Excerpts published from Vice President Harris’s memoir touch on how her relationship with the Biden team was portrayed during the 2024 campaign cycle, including questions about how she was defended in the press and by administration leadership. Those passages, reported by Axios and other outlets, drew criticisms from former White House staffers who argued Harris was unfairly cast as scapegoated for strategic disagreements. The reverberations of that reporting have fed into wider speculation about the 2028 field and the kinds of leadership Democrats believe they need to regain the White House.

The overall dynamic illustrates a Democratic Party actively reshaping its generation of leaders as it seeks to compete anew in a political environment shaped by Trump-era policies and a shifting electorate. While Axios documented Ocasio-Cortez’s possible 2028 trajectory, party officials and analysts emphasize that any run would reflect a broader effort to build a governing coalition capable of sustaining Democratic priorities across regional and urban/rural divides. The 2028 landscape remains fluid, with multiple names and potential paths still to be determined as party leaders weigh how best to present a cohesive, durable alternative to Republican governance.