AOC Leads Schumer In New York Primary Poll As She Seeks To Revamp The Democratic Party

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is leading Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a potential primary for his New York seat in the Upper House, according to a new poll.

Concretely, a survey by Data for Progress showed the New York City lawmaker ahead by almost 20 percentage points, getting 55% of the vote compared to Schumer's 36%. The poll was conducted on March 31 among 767 likely voters.

Politico, which first reported on the survey, described Data for Progress as a liberal firm. The fact that it conducted the poll, the outlet analyzed, "underscores that liberal organizations are continuing to look for ways to prod Schumer to take a tougher stance against President Donald Trump."

The poll follows recent reports regarding the desire to elevate AOC's profile as a future leader of the party. The possibility was illustrated during her stops by Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Fighting Oligarchy" Tour in late March, where she argued about the need to reframe the divide in the Democratic Party not as progressive versus moderate, but as those going after Republican President Donald Trump and those being more cautious.

"This isn't just about Republicans. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us, too," she told a fired-up crowd gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, during a tour stop. "But what that means is that we as a community must choose and vote for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class."

While she didn't mention any leaders by name, the crowd broke out into multiple "Primary Chuck" chants. Schumer was heavily criticized by a faction of the party after he backed down from a government funding fight with Trump in late March. The move enraged the base and prompted some of Ocasio-Cortez's House colleagues to encourage her to mount a primary challenge in 2028.

About two-thirds of Democrats have a favorable opinion of AOC and just 5% view her unfavorably, according to Gallup polling from January. In her home state, about 4 in 10 New York voters in the November election viewed her favorably while about the same share had an unfavorable opinion, according to AP VoteCast.

Other Democrats, however, are still weary of her, painting her as too progressive to appeal to a broad coalition of Americans.

"Her politics are just too far left for this party," a chair of a state party that sends a large number of delegates to Democratic presidential conventions told NBC News of Ocasio-Cortez as a potential national candidate. "I don't agree with most of her policy positions, but she's showing a fight, which a lot of people are looking for their members of Congress to do, and they're just not seeing it."