Wherever AOC goes next, Queens voters say they’ll follow
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Queens voters on Election Day on Tuesday overwhelmingly said they’d support Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if she decided to run for higher office. AP file photo by Robert F. Bukaty
By Jacob Kaye
Tuesday’s election may have marked the final time Northwest Queens voters see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s name on their congressional ballots, nearly a decade after the then-little-known bartender shot onto the national political scene by defeating the most powerful Democrat in Queens in her first race for the House of Representatives.
Though AOC may not run for reelection in New York’s 14th Congressional District again, many of her constituents expect to see her name somewhere on the ballot in 2028 – and will be happy to vote for her in a bid for higher office.
The Eagle spoke with approximately 20 of AOC’s constituents in Queens on Tuesday, an overwhelming majority of whom said that they’d support the progressive star in whatever race she decides to run next.
Ocasio-Cortez has represented the 14th congressional district, which covers parts of Northwest Queens and the Bronx, since 2018 and, on Tuesday, was running for her fifth term in office. Her rise to political stardom was immediate and has been sustained. Eight years after defeating Joe Crowley, then the boss of the Queens County Democratic Party, she is among the most recognizable politicians in the U.S., and has begun to publicly mull over her next move.
Some have urged AOC, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a leading member of the nation’s progressive movement, to challenge Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for his U.S. Senate seat. Others say she should think bigger and run for president in 2028.
In September, Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Times that she’ll decide her next move after the general election.
Regardless of what she decides to do, many of her constituents say they’ll be first in line to vote for her.
“Whatever she thinks is worthy to do next, I would support her,” Melanie O’Donnell, a voter in Astoria, told the Eagle.
Others were more effusive.
“If she wants to go primary Schumer, I'll go out and volunteer for her,” said Astoria voter Nick Stellini.
Ocasio-Cortez has long enjoyed significant support in her district, which for years has been represented by officials backed by the Democratic Socialists of America at the local, state and federal levels.
Challenged by a Republican in each of her four previous elections, Ocasio-Cortez has never finished a general election with less than 69 percent of the vote. Her results in the primaries are no different. Earlier this year, AOC defeated two Democratic challengers by pulling in nearly 87 percent of the vote, the highest percentage she’s ever received. She is expected to handily defeat her Republican opponent, Diamant Hysenaj, on Tuesday.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked New York’s political world when she upset former Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018. Eight years later, her supporters say they are excited to support her in a bid for higher office. AP file photo by Bebeto Matthews
And her support has extended beyond the confines of her district. She raised more than $38 million this election cycle, making her campaign among the wealthiest in the country. Ocasio-Cortez used some of that cash to influence races outside of New York City, sending $1 million to the Michigan Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in support of Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Senate, and $450,000 to the campaigns of Mary Peltola in Alaska, Angie Nixon in Florida and Troy Jackson in Maine.
She also spent the final month of the race campaigning with candidates across New York State, making stops in Buffalo, Ithaca and Syracuse, all while fueling speculation about her next move.
In a September interview with the New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez appeared to suggest that there was less of a question about whether she’d run for higher office and more of a question about which office would make the most sense for her to run for.
“There’s an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Times. “And you don’t — and just in life in general — life doesn’t wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.”
Voters the Eagle spoke with on Tuesday said that while they may be sad to see AOC leave her seat, they think she’s long been ready for a more prominent elected position.
“She has really shown us how important it is to have a vocal, active, engaged and tenacious House representative,” Talley Sue Hohlfeld, a longtime Jackson Heights resident, said. “If she moves on, I would like her to do what she wants, and I think that she can take her skills and her values further, so that will be good, in that regard.”
“But I think we're going to need to work hard to replace her,” she added.
The lawmaker’s campaign on Tuesday released a memo touting her work over the past two years. The memo ended with a message to her supporters and surrogates regarding potential future campaigns.
“You may be asked whether you support her running for president or for Senate in New York or staying in the House of Representatives,” the memo read. “We’d recommend you rely on the details of this memo and answer that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will continue to do what she’s always done: look for ways to do the most good for the most people. But, over the course of the last two years, she has proven herself to be one of the most effective voices in the country for America’s working class.”
Few voters the Eagle spoke with had any advice to offer their congresswoman about which path she should take, suggesting that she would know best which office she should launch a campaign for.
“I like her message that she wants to be where she's most helpful,” said Mara McGuinness, a voter in Astoria. “So, if it's not going to be the presidency, if it's the Senate, wherever her voice is most helpful, that's where she wants to be. I think that really resonates.”
But some said they felt running for president would be a stretch for the 37-year-old.
“I'm still going to be a little skeptical of her experience and age [if she runs for president],” Jon Meyers, a teacher in Jackson Heights, said. “At the same time, I also think it'd be a welcoming change because all we do is vote for old white guys anyway.”
And not every voter the Eagle spoke with said they’d be casting a ballot for AOC regardless of where she ran, or who she ran against.
“We have to always evaluate the candidates when they're campaigning for where it is they want to be, and then make sure that it aligns with whatever it is that you want in your community,” Evelyn Carrera, a voter in Astoria, said. “So, when she's there, then I'll make that decision.”
Nonetheless, Carrera said she’s supported Ocasio-Cortez since her first bid for office in 2018 and has largely been impressed by her work as a lawmaker in the district and as a national political voice.
“I voted for her for 2018, and I remember hearing people around the neighborhood not too pleased with her politics,” Carrera said. “But we've all had a pretty good existence since. I think the proof is that nothing has changed too wildly in our particular district, so she's got to be doing something right.”
Speaking about AOC’s prospects on Tuesday led a number of her constituents to think back to last year’s mayoral race, when voters across the city sent Zohran Mamdani, then an assemblymember from Astoria, to City Hall, catapulting him to political fame in the process.
“I think it's actually kind of interesting that the most popular politicians in all of America right now are all from Queens – you got Mamdani, [President Donald] Trump, and AOC,” Brian Hunt, an Astoria voter, said. “Who doesn't know the three of them?”
Hunt, a member of the steamfitters union, said that he believes it's time for Ocasio-Cortez to capitalize on the momentum she’s built up in Queens and run for whatever is next.
“I think it's a good time for her to move forward, if that's what she so desires to do. I mean, if I was her, that's probably what I would do,” he said. “But I just hope that she remembers where she came from.”
Additional reporting by Noah Powelson.
