A growing number of frustrated Democrats have urged Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., even though he is not up for re-election until 2028.
Rumblings in Washington to replace Schumer have grown since eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans in voting to end the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history. Critics blame him for allowing centrist Democrats to give up the political game of chicken, which they appeared to be winning.
In the fallout, Democratic donors and strategists are calling for the popular progressive Ocasio-Cortez to seek his Senate seat.
“We’ve got to get rid of him,” one Democratic donor told The Hill. “She’s the future. He’s the past.”
Democratic strategist Anthony Coley, a Senate campaign veteran, said he was “a huge fan” of the young representative, and said Schumer “lost control of his caucus.”
“She is fascinating and she knows how to communicate to people and she’s dynamic and she has energy and she’s a fighter and more than anything, the Democratic base wants someone to fight for them,” Coley said.
The calls for change come at a bad time for Schumer. Shutdown aside, his approval rating stands at 39% among New Yorkers, the lowest in twenty years, according to a Siena College poll. Over 46% of those polled disapprove of Schumer’s handling of the Senate Democrats.
At the same time, Ocasio-Cortez has been surging in popularity, campaigning with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and serving as a major advocate and ally of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Susan Del Percio, a political strategist and analyst based in New York, said Schumer’s career “has run its course.”
“It’s been admirable and successful, but it’s done,” Del Perico said, adding that Ocasio-Cortez “beats him in a primary.”
