Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is facing a major re-election setback as he rapidly loses support from a critical voting bloc.
A new poll from the Honan Strategy Group, conducted for the Jewish Voters Action Network (JVAC), shows Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) dominating Schumer in a hypothetical Democratic Senate primary. Ocasio-Cortez, 35, leads Schumer 45% to 33% among Jewish Democratic voters, with another 17% still undecided, underscoring growing dissatisfaction with the five-term senator from within his own base.
“This is a massive wake-up call for Schumer,” Maury Litwack, co-founder of Jewish Voters Action Network, told the New York Post. “He’s not only bleeding support in the Democratic Party overall but also in the Jewish community.”
The result is especially troubling for Schumer, who is himself Jewish and has long counted on Jewish voters as a cornerstone of his political base throughout his decades in Congress. Now 74, Schumer is not up for re-election until 2028, but the early warning signs are already flashing.
According to Litwack, the poll results seem to reflect a drop in support for Schumer rather than a surge of enthusiasm for Ocasio-Cortez. The progressive congresswoman has been one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress, going so far as to accuse the Israeli government of “genocide” in response to its military actions in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attacks.
Still, Litwack said his greater frustration lies with Schumer’s silence in the face of mass protest movements sparked by the war, rather than with AOC’s outspoken stance against Israel. “The leading Jewish elected official in the nation did not step up in a moment of rising antisemitism — and the poll reflects that,” he said.
The JVAC co-founder criticized Schumer for failing to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act last year, even with Democrats in control of both the White House and the Senate, where Schumer served as majority leader. He also pointed to allegations that Schumer advised Columbia University officials to downplay accusations of antisemitism—claims cited in a House investigative report on anti-Israel campus protests, which Schumer has denied.
Beyond slipping support among Jewish voters, Schumer has also faced mounting backlash from Democratic voters and lawmakers for what many saw as a weak approach to confronting President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Schumer drew fire for refusing to force a government shutdown, instead agreeing to a six-month funding bill—a move progressives like AOC viewed as a missed opportunity to push back hard, despite years of blasting Republicans for using shutdown threats as leverage.
“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the time. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats.”
“This is across the board, the entire party. There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States, who walked the plank and took innumerable risks… just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk. I think it is a huge slap in the face,” she added.
