A new poll suggests Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez holds a strong early lead over Sen. Chuck Schumer in a potential 2028 Democratic primary matchup in New York, with results showing her ahead by a wide margin.
The survey, commissioned by the progressive research group Data for Progress and shared exclusively with POLITICO, found that 55 percent of likely Democratic voters either support or are inclined to support Ocasio-Cortez, while 36 percent expressed support or leanings toward Schumer. Another 9 percent said they remain undecided.
The results come at a time when Schumer’s popularity within his party appears to have declined, particularly following his vote to move forward a Republican-backed funding bill last month—legislation that helped avoid a government shutdown. The release of the poll by Data for Progress signals that progressive advocacy groups are still pressing Schumer to adopt a more combative posture toward President Donald Trump.
“This poll really does show that Democrats are united in just wanting to stand up, wanting to fight, wanting to see someone taking a stand for them,” said Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of Data for Progress.
Deiseroth also pointed to her organization’s history of taking on entrenched Democratic leaders, saying the group “has a long tradition of wanting to challenge the status quo of Democratic Party leadership.” She noted that in 2021, her team published data revealing then-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s vulnerability to a primary opponent—a forecast that proved prescient when Sinema later switched her registration to independent and opted not to seek reelection.
Still, the implications of this latest poll for the 2028 primary remain uncertain, as early polling rarely translates directly into election outcomes. Ocasio-Cortez has yet to publicly commit to running for Senate, while Schumer has already taken the formal step of filing for reelection.
Schumer, defending his decision to back the Republican funding measure, has maintained that the alternative—a government shutdown—would have empowered Trump and his ally Elon Musk even further. Despite pressure from some liberal lawmakers and grassroots groups urging him to be more forceful in opposing Trump or to resign from Senate leadership, Schumer has held his caucus together and, for now, faces no internal challenge to his role as minority leader.
The Data for Progress poll surveyed 770 likely Democratic voters in late March using text messaging and web panels. The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
{Matzav.com}