A senior Democratic strategist working in a key swing district told Axios that Ocasio-Cortez is a difficult figure for candidates in close races. “The polling is atrocious for her,” the strategist said. “She’s a lightning rod.” Party officials told Axios that some Democrats in other tight contests have explicitly asked her team to stay away.
Axios reported that Democrats in some of this year’s most critical congressional battlegrounds are making clear they do not want Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to campaign for them. The report said continued snubs could hurt her standing as a potential contender in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, when many voters will prioritize electability.
Ocasio-Cortez and her allies have argued that her advocacy for large progressive policies such as Medicare for All would make candidates like her more electable than moderate liberals. Many Democrats running in close races this fall have disagreed with that view, Axios reported. She drew welcomes in competitive primaries, but some of those same candidates have pulled back as they shifted toward the center ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
Montana and Michigan candidates who used her help in primaries have pulled back
Sam Forstag, a progressive House candidate in Montana, rallied with Ocasio-Cortez in May before he won the Democratic primary. He later suggested he does not want her on the trail with him in the conservative state during the general election. “I don’t intend to be having a lot of folks from out of state campaigning with me over these next 40 days,” he told Axios when asked about her stumping for him. His campaign has also taken her endorsement off its website.
Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed had Ocasio-Cortez campaign with him in the final weeks of last month’s Democratic primary in that presidential swing state. This cautious distance contrasts with other political figures’ expectations, such as when J.D. Vance said he expects Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to lead the 2028 Democratic field.
Abdul and his allies spent almost $1 million on television ads featuring her, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. After he won the nomination, his campaign spent almost nothing on ads featuring her. She has not joined him on the trail as Republican Mike Rogers has accused him of being too left-wing for Michigan.
El-Sayed’s campaign said it would welcome Ocasio-Cortez back in the coming weeks. “There are a lot of Michiganders who can’t wait to have AOC back in town,” a spokesperson told Axios. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose help some battleground candidates have resisted, appeared in Michigan with El-Sayed last week and plans to campaign for statewide candidates in Georgia and Nevada.
Axios asked Ocasio-Cortez’s team whether she has appeared in person for any of the party’s top House or Senate candidates this cycle. They did not point to any such events. Her chief of staff, Mike Casca, said, “Call us on Nov. 3.” In June, CNN reported that her aides were assembling a fall schedule meant to test her appeal beyond a base that adores her. Axios reported that this has not happened nationally so far.
Several of her potential 2028 rivals have drawn a different reception. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been welcomed by Democratic candidates in competitive districts and states over the past month, Axios reported.
Ocasio-Cortez started a New York campaign swing this week with stops in Buffalo and Ithaca. She is not appearing in the 17th District in the lower Hudson Valley, one of the country’s most competitive House races. Cait Conley, a former Army officer and Biden administration national security official, told CNN this month that she would not campaign with Ocasio-Cortez.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, Conley’s opponent, has tried to tie Conley to Ocasio-Cortez and has invited Ocasio-Cortez to campaign in the district.
The GOP super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund began running an ad last week that linked Ocasio-Cortez to Conley and called Conley “AOC’s choice for Congress.” Asked about Republicans using her name against Conley, Ocasio-Cortez said it will not work.
“I invite them to spend even more money … because they’re just setting it on fire,” she said, arguing that the GOP has used the same anti-AOC playbook since she first won a House seat in 2018. “I would rather them do this than something that’s actually potentially effective,” she added.
She has made some appearances outside the top national targets. Axios reported that she campaigned this month for Florida Senate nominee Angie Nixon, a fellow Democratic Socialists of America member.
Democrats are not counting on Nixon to flip a Senate seat in a state that has drifted red. Virginia House candidate Tom Perriello, who is trying to flip a Republican-held seat, welcomed her fundraising help this month by splitting a donation with her. She also campaigned Saturday in Ithaca with Rep. Josh Riley, who won his district by 2 points in 2024.
Riley’s race is less competitive this year after the national House Republican super PAC withdrew $4.8 million in ad reservations and effectively left the contest earlier this month.
Published: Sep 28, 2026 11:00 am