Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said her potential 2028 presidential run hinges on an “all or nothing” mentality.
The 36-year-old New York Democrat said that if she were to run in the upcoming cycle for the White House and not win, “I would be done.”
“And I am not opposed to that,” she told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday. “That, in and of itself, does not exclude the decision. But it has to make it worth it.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is running for reelection in New York’s 14th Congressional District this November, when she’s heavily favored to beat Republican Diamant Hysenaj, and she said she’ll weigh her future career soon thereafter.
She could run again for the House in 2028 or she could put her name on an entirely different ballot: vying for the Senate seat held by fellow New Yorker Charles E. Schumer.
The Senate minority leader has not announced his own 2028 plans, but as a prominent face of his party, he has been confronted by a wave of dissatisfaction with how he leads his congressional coalition.
Whether Democrats take back either chamber of Congress, along with feedback for Mr. Schumer, could influence how Ms. Ocasio-Cortez mulls her next move.
When asked if a Democratic Senate majority would convolute her two-year plan, she said, “That would honestly be the best possible problem we could have as a country.”
“We’re working hard to have that problem, and I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” she added.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez did not rule out the possibility of challenging Mr. Schumer.
“There’s an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot,” she said. “And you don’t — and just in life in general — life doesn’t wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.”
What’s more, the lawmaker said she discussed the idea of a woman running for president with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost a short-lived campaign against President Trump and may try again.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez also considered her national electability as a Latina, saying, “I don’t kind of shy away from those realities.
“This country has never elected a female president. Why are we pretending that this is not a factor?” she said. “That doesn’t make it impossible, but to act as though it’s not a factor in anything ever is really a form of, like, denialism.”
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