New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter voted 291-123 on Saturday to encourage Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to run for president in 2028.
The vote came at the chapter’s annual convention. Local co-chair Gustavo Gordillo stressed that it was not a formal endorsement. Instead, he said, it commits the group to helping build the groundwork for a campaign.
“AOC and New York City DSA are committed to building a stronger democratic socialist movement,” Gordillo said at a press conference. He added that the group would work to create conditions for a campaign focused on a working-class political agenda.
The chapter also discussed plans to gain influence on the New York City Council, along with several other proposals. Some resolutions drew scrutiny after Politico reported that they appeared to have been generated with AI.
According to the report, Pangram, an AI-detection tool, rated a resolution concerning the 2029 City Council elections as entirely AI-generated. Two other proposals—one about expanding DSA participation on community boards and another focused on South Asian communities—were also flagged.
NYC-DSA has a policy against using AI and voted Saturday to formally oppose its expansion. Co-chair Grace Mausser questioned the reliability of Pangram’s results, telling Politico that resolutions are often written and edited collaboratively by multiple members.
Mausser also criticized the company behind the tool, saying its industry had used writers’ work without permission and now sells software that questions whether people wrote their own words.
Pangram says it correctly identifies AI-generated text 9,999 times out of 10,000. A University of Chicago study has also found the tool has a near-zero error rate.
