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Is the US ready for President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

politicsAug 15, 2026451,815

At a University of Chicago event in May Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, "My ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country," and speculation has grown that she could run for president in 2028. The 36-year-old New York congresswoman has nearly 10 million Instagram followers, rising name recognition, and backing that stretches from the Democratic Socialists of America to former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. A Granite State Poll from the University of New Hampshire found Ocasio-Cortez leading a potential Democratic field in that early-voting state, and a Zogby Strategies national poll showed a generic democratic socialist candidate beating a generic Maga candidate 45 percent to 33 percent. Ocasio-Cortez has not ruled out a run and has boosted her national profile by joining Bernie Sanders last year on a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour and by traveling to support progressive candidates across the country. Ashik Siddique, a DSA co-chair, said members would be excited if she entered the 2028 primary and want a strong working-class voice in the race. This week she intensified pundit chatter by using Instagram to announce she is freezing her eggs, a move she framed as normalizing family planning while accepting the "political risk" of sharing private decisions.

Mother Jones
@motherjones.com

"For Ocasio-Cortez, two potential futures—kids and higher office—braid together, because of course they do. That is not surprising for so many of us in the face of aging, careers, and prohibitively expensive fertility procedures."

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