The decisive primary sweep by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s left-wing comrades gave Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez such an ego boost that Democratic insiders predict it could spur a White House bid in 2028.<\/p>\n
The \u201cSquad\u2019s\u201d queen bee may ditch her long-anticipated plot to unseat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for bigger game after three radical Mamdani-backed insurgents <\/a>running for House seats on Tuesday defeated old-guard Dems, pushing the party even further left, the insiders said.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s clean sweep was a political earthquake that shows voters generally want to shake up the system,\u201d said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n The clean sweep by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s socialist slate in Tuesday\u2019s House primaries could embolden \u201cSquad\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (pictured) enough to run for president in 2028 \u2013 and bypass her long-anticipated bid to unseat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic insiders told The Post. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever percent chance [Ocasio-Cortez] put on running for president a week ago, it should be a higher percent chance now \u2013 absolutely.\u00a0 It could have gone from 5% to 20%,\u201d added Green, whose political action committee has previously helped finance campaigns for Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and other lefties.<\/p>\n A top establishment Dem believes Ocasio-Cortez will run for president.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s never itched to be a senator, one of 100, because you don\u2019t become a leader \u2014 that takes years and a deep record of legislating,\u201d said the aide. \u201cPlus, who wants to be junior senator [in New York] to Kirsten Gillibrand?\u201d<\/p>\n The 36-year-old celebrity socialist already had \u201cgreat potential\u201d to seek higher office \u2013 but \u201ceven more so\u201d after Mamdani\u2019s radical allies Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez and Brad Lander<\/a> won their primaries, insisted a longtime New York Democratic operative.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery light on the dashboard is flashing [that] people want generational change,\u201d said the operative.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s freaking out,\u201d said a longtime party fundraiser, who chided elected Dems for for \u201clooking stupid\u201d by defending scandal-scarred Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner<\/a> in a bid to retain his viability.<\/p>\n Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (center). Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n Ocasio-Cortez declined to address her political ambitions directly to reporters, but said the far-left\u2019s success in the midterm primaries will make it easier for someone like two-time loser and socialist firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or \u201cother\u201d like-minded \u201cprogressives\u201d to win the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there will always be a place \u2014 and a winning place \u2014 for a candidate that fights for guaranteed health care for every American, raising wages, and taking on a lot of the corporate corruption that\u2019s driving up prices,\u201d she told The Post Thursday.<\/p>\n Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America\u2019s battle with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries over NYC-based House seats \u2014 while noteworthy \u2014 also pales in comparison to the larger national fight\u00a0between Schumer and Sanders, pundits said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Although establishment Dems comprise a vast majority of the 47 seats in the Senate Democratic caucus, Sanders and his comrades are making key progress cutting into Schumer\u2019s power, they added. <\/p>\n In Maine, Democratic primary voters on June 9 chose Sanders-backed Platner, 41, over Gov. Janet Mills, 78, one of Schumer\u2019s top recruits.<\/p>\n In Michigan, Sanders\u2019 ally Abdul El-Sayed is giving establishment Democrats\u00a0anxiety heading into the Aug. 4 primary as he leads in the polls over Schumer-backed Rep. Haley Stevens.<\/p>\n And, in Minnesota, Sanders-backed Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is polling<\/a>\u00a0ahead<\/a>\u00a0of Schumer-backed Rep. Angie Craig in multiple polls.<\/p>\n NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s slate of endorsed House candidates includes fellow far-lefty and ex-NYC Comptroller Brad Lander. REUTERS<\/p>\n \u201cNew York is just the latest flashpoint in Democrats\u2019 socialist takeover,\u201d said Bernadette Breslin, national press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the Sanders-Mamdani slate topples the Schumer-Jeffries machine, Bernie-backed radicals like Graham Platner, Abdul El-Sayed, and Peggy Flanagan stand ready to inflict crippling tax hikes on voters across the Senate map,\u201d warned Breslin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanders did not return messages. <\/p>\n Schumer declined to address his political future, but he insisted this week that Dems \u2014 from centrists to socialists \u2014 would rally together to take back Capitol Hill and the White House.<\/p>\n But Alyssa Brouillet, communications director for Michigan Republican Senate candidate and former Rep. Mike Rogers, said there\u2019s \u201cno longer\u201d a \u201csocialist wing of the Democratic party; it is the Democratic party \u2013 and voters are waking up.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking families want less crazy and more common sense,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The decisive primary sweep by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s left-wing comrades gave Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez such an ego…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[878,5057,8069,2065,4866,1091,153,4008,5315,57,9730,5800,9,56,63,65,64,87,83107,855,58,82],"class_list":["post-279909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-brad-lander","tag-chuck-schumer","tag-democratic-primary","tag-democratic-socialists-of-america","tag-donald-trump","tag-hakeem-jeffries","tag-maine","tag-metro","tag-michigan","tag-minnesota","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-politics","tag-presidential-election-2028","tag-senate","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}