New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is quietly positioning himself as a potential powerbroker in the early contest over the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nominee.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who cannot run for president because he was not born in the United States, has met privately with labor leaders. He has stressed the importance of finding a candidate aligned with unions and the party’s left wing.
He is also said to be unsure whether his close ally, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, will enter the race. Mamdani worries that if she sits it out, progressives could be left without a leading candidate to challenge a more centrist contender, according to a report by Axios.
After his historic 2025 mayoral victory, Mamdani has become an influential figure on the party’s left. He believes progressives should build on their momentum after Democrats’ strong midterm performance, which gave them a large House majority and control of the Senate.
A person familiar with Mamdani’s discussions told Axios that he wants progressive groups to organize quickly and strategically if a moderate candidate starts to gain ground.
Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, has tried to temper speculation that she might run for president or seek a New York Senate seat. A new activist group, Ready for AOC, has begun urging her to run for the White House.
Speaking to reporters Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez said voters wanted to hear what Democrats would do with the results of the midterm elections, rather than focus on the next campaign.
The remarks came shortly after Ready for AOC formally launched. The group describes itself as a grassroots effort to show Ocasio-Cortez how many supporters would be ready to organize for a 2028 run.
She said people were more interested in what investigations and legislation Democrats planned to pursue than in speculation about who might run next.
Veteran Democratic strategist David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and advised Kamala Harris’s 2024 bid, said Ocasio-Cortez could begin a campaign with roughly 20 to 25 percent support. The key question, he said, would be whether she could expand that base. If she does not run, the field could be wide open, potentially drawing in figures such as Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed.
Plouffe added that the race might include unexpected candidates, as well as people who choose not to run despite being widely discussed.
Ocasio-Cortez said in September that she was considering her next move, including a possible presidential campaign or a challenge for the Senate seat held by fellow Democrat Chuck Schumer.
In a fundraising email, she noted that people often ask what she will do in 2028. In an interview with The New York Times two months ago, she said her decision—possibly sometime after the midterms—would depend on where she could do the most good.
Schumer, who turns 76 later this month, has not said whether he will seek another six-year Senate term and has left his own 2028 plans unclear.
Ocasio-Cortez is not the only prominent progressive weighing a presidential bid. Rep. Ro Khanna of California is also being discussed as a possible candidate. His allies recently formed a draft committee, Run Ro, to build support and raise money for a potential campaign.
