Lefty Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is dipping her toe in the 2028 political waters as she launches an upstate New York voter outreach tour on DSA-friendly turf, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
The far-left Dem is kicking off the tour in Buffalo to rally potential supporters before the midterm elections and amid continuing speculation that she may make a White House run in two years \u2014 joining Gov. Kathy Hochul for some upstate cred during the trip, Gothamist reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n AOC\u2019s team said she will also be hitting up Syracuse and Ithaca, home to Cornell University, which counts several members of the Democratic Socialists of America on the city council \u2014 and sits in Tompkins County, one of only two in the Empire State that went for Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.<\/p>\n U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, is launching an upstate tour ahead of midterm elections. REUTERS<\/p>\n Buffalo and Syracuse both voted to elect DSA members to local and state Assembly seats in June elections.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI think she brings a lot of energy to the process, engages young people in particular,\u201d Hochul said during an interview on WNYC. \u201cI\u2019ve encouraged this. I have asked her and others to go statewide to create the momentum we need, the energy around this next election. So I think she\u2019ll be very well-received.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to a string of speaking engagements, AOC\u2019s upstate jaunt will include an \u201cinactive voter training\u201d session Thursday night, and she said she will make a $300,000 contribution to state Democrats.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be very forthright: I\u2019ve got our intention to transform the state of New York,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said at Thursday\u2019s rally to roaring applause.<\/p>\n Ocasio-Cortez failed to mention Hochul or any of the longtime Democratic pols on the statewide ticket in November \u2014 appearing focused on her own \u201cnational strategy\u201d of winning midterm House races and getting involved in New York.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to win by campaigning the same way,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said.<\/p>\n Maxwell Bowman, co-chair of Buffalo\u2019s DSA, said Hochul plans to campaign with AOC on her trip upstate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bowman also called for an overhaul of the statewide Democratic Party moving it away from corporate money interests.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul said she\u2019ll share the stage with AOC during the lefty lawmaker\u2019s upstate NY tour. Andrew Schwartz \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n \u201cThe Democratic Party in New York State has been a corporate party serving money interests for a very long time. And I think we need to change those politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n