Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is registering stronger favorability numbers than Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a new New York poll, adding another data point to growing speculation over whether she could eventually challenge the longtime Democratic leader or pursue the presidency in 2028.
The survey, commissioned by Education Reform Now Advocacy and conducted by Concord Public Opinion Partners, questioned 505 likely New York voters from Aug. 19 through Aug. 21.
Ocasio-Cortez was viewed favorably by 47% of respondents and unfavorably by 39%, giving the New York congresswoman a net favorability rating of plus 8 points.
Schumer received markedly weaker numbers.
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they viewed the senator favorably, compared with 52% who held an unfavorable opinion. Another 10% were unsure, leaving Schumer with a net favorability rating of minus 13 points. The survey had a margin of error of approximately 4.4 percentage points.
The results do not represent a head-to-head Democratic primary matchup, and the relatively small sample means the findings should be interpreted cautiously. Still, they provide another indication of the very different political positions Ocasio-Cortez and Schumer currently occupy among New York voters.
Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, has repeatedly declined to commit herself to any particular race in 2028.
The congresswoman confronted the question directly during a May 8 appearance at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, where she sat down for a public conversation with David Axelrod, the longtime Democratic strategist who served as a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama.
Axelrod asked Ocasio-Cortez about both possibilities generating speculation around her future: running for president or challenging Schumer for his Senate seat.
Axelrod: There are a lot of people who would like you to run for president in 2028. And there are others who would like you to run for the senate.
AOC: In this op-ed that Bezos paid for in The Washington Post, there was a veiled threat—it was the elite saying if you want this… pic.twitter.com/ZjyuXPVu1G
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 8, 2026
Rather than rule either option out, Ocasio-Cortez said she did not view her ambitions primarily in terms of obtaining a particular political office.
“They assume that my ambition is a title or a seat,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And my ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country.”
She pointed to priorities including single-payer health care, higher wages and workers’ rights as examples of policies she considers more important than an individual office.
Axelrod later said on CNN that her response was notable in part because she had declined to close the door on either possibility.
“She did not say no to anything,” Axelrod said, adding that he had specifically presented both the presidency and Schumer’s Senate seat as potential paths.
Ocasio-Cortez continued to leave her options open during an August appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
Asked whether she could seek the presidency in 2028, she said her immediate attention remained on the November midterm elections rather than the next presidential campaign. She similarly did not rule out a future Senate bid against Schumer.
Her national activity has nevertheless fueled speculation.
Axios reported in May that Ocasio-Cortez had been making moves consistent with someone considering a future national campaign, including traveling outside New York and appearing before audiences around the country. At the same time, people familiar with her thinking told the outlet that she had not decided whether her next major campaign would be for president, Senate or neither.
She has also become an increasingly prominent campaign surrogate for other Democrats. During the 2026 cycle, Ocasio-Cortez traveled to support candidates in several states and backed a number of progressive congressional contenders, further expanding a political network that already extends well beyond her New York City district.
