NYC Socialists Vote 291–123 to Urge Ocasio-Cortez to Run for President in 2028
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has voted to urge Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028, in one of the earliest formal moves of the next White House race.
The resolution passed 291 to 123 at the chapter’s annual convention on Saturday, 14 November. Al Jazeera reported that the vote does not amount to a formal endorsement by the national DSA, but it commits the 15,000-member New York chapter to encouraging Ocasio-Cortez’s candidacy and laying the groundwork for a potential campaign.
“If the US can elect Trump, I think we can elect Democratic Socialists,” NYC-DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo told Al Jazeera.
Ocasio-Cortez, 37, represents New York’s 14th District, covering parts of the Bronx and Queens, and is a longtime member of the chapter. There was no immediate public response from her to the resolution in the reporting on Saturday.
An affordability platform
The chapter has not yet finalised a national presidential platform, but its co-chairs say any campaign would be built around the cost of living. NYC-DSA co-chair Grace Mausser said housing, healthcare and childcare would sit at its core.
“The top issues at the doors that we encounter are housing, healthcare, childcare – the hallmarks of affordability,” Mausser said. “Those would all become the core of a federal platform.”
The resolution also sets out wider priorities, including universal healthcare, tuition-free public college, public housing, labour protections and support for labour organising. It calls for stopping Immigration and Customs Enforcement and backing “the anti-war and pro-Palestine movements”. A presidential campaign, the resolution says, would allow for the “continued crafting of a platform that engages the working class”.
Mausser said the chapter’s growing influence meant its position would be closely watched. “Now that we have put a mayor into City Hall and we’ve elected three socialists in the city, I think regardless of how a politician feels about DSA personally, they’re definitely looking at what we say and how we’re moving,” she said. “We are one of the biggest political actors in the city, in the state, and the country, frankly.”
Riding a midterm wave
The convention came days after a strong showing for the movement in the midterm elections. A record eight DSA-endorsed candidates were elected to federal office, and the chapter recently endorsed Zohran Mamdani, who won the New York City mayoralty.
The result adds to a striking set of Democratic gains. Democrats are projected to win back the House and projected to win back the Senate, completing control of Congress, while Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate after winning in Michigan.
NYC-DSA has backed Ocasio-Cortez in all five of her congressional general elections since her 2018 primary victory over a 10-term incumbent, and its leaders now argue that the moment is ripe for a national campaign.
A decision still to come
Ocasio-Cortez has said she will decide on her political future after the midterm elections, leaving open the possibility of a 2028 presidential bid or a challenge for a US Senate seat.
The New York vote adds to mounting efforts on the left to persuade her to run, including an independent campaign urging her to enter the race, called “Ready for AOC”. The national DSA has debated her possible endorsement without settling the question.
For now, the resolution is a statement of intent rather than a launch. It binds one chapter, not the national organisation, and it cannot put Ocasio-Cortez on a ballot. But with more than two years until the next presidential election, the 291–123 vote makes the New York left’s preference unmistakable — and puts the first public pressure of the 2028 cycle squarely on the congresswoman herself.
