Even as primary races heat up, influential Democrat and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is withholding her endorsements for contests in her own backyard.
“It looks like he’s built a strong coalition,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent, but said “I haven’t endorsed” for the race.
It is a sign of Ocasio-Cortez’s maturing from being a progressive insurgent who pulled off an improbable win in 2018 against a member of House Democratic leadership to becoming a major power broker.
In New York’s 10th district, outgoing Comptroller Brad Lander is challenging incumbent Democrat Dan Goldman. In the 15th district, Michael Blake is running against Rep. Ritchie Torres. Both Goldman and Torres have been criticized by progressive Democrats for their support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. Lander has long been an ally of Ocasio-Cortez. During the primary for New York City’s mayoral race, which uses ranked choice voting, she ranked Lander third behind city council speaker Adrienne Adams and her main choice, eventual winner Zohran Mamdani.
Still, Ocasio-Cortez has held off on giving any endorsements heading into 2026 and the upcoming Midterm elections.
“We are in a cycle of very high democratic voter enthusiasm, and I think that we're seeing that in the results in some of our special elections,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent.
Ocasio-Cortez has become a sought-after voice in the Democratic Party. During California's Proposition 50, which allowed for a one-time redistricting, she cut an ad in English and Spanish. In addition, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted to keep the government open in March, many Democrats pushed for her to challenge Schumer in 2028.
Polling shows she is often considered in the top four Democrats voters are considering for a run for president.
Still, Ocasio-Cortez and her team have remained mum about any higher ambitions. Despite her not being selected to serve as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, she recently joined the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which allows her to shape policy on climate change and health care, two of her major policy priorities.
Ocasio-Cortez came to Congress under similar circumstances in 2018 that are unfolding in 2026 with Democrats seizing a wave of voter angst. In 2018, she challenged House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley and pulled off an upset win for her district in the Bronx and Queens.
In the wake of that victory, she would support primary challengers to incumbent Democrats, such as Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st district against incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay and New York’s Jamaal Bowman against incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel.
She also endorsed Jessica Cisneros in Texas’s 28th district against Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Democrat opposed to abortion, in 2020 and 2022. But when Trump pardoned Cuellar earlier this month after he had been under federal indictment, she did not comment when The Independent asked.
AOC’s approach to the 2026 midterms differs from another major Democratic player, New York City Mayor-Elect Mamdani. He has already endorsed Lander in his New York race.
“I don't really have any thoughts,” Goldman told The Independent.
Goldman withheld his endorsement of Mamdani after he won the Democratic primary earlier this year, though Goldman defended the mayor-elect from Islamophobic attacks from Republicans.
“I feel good about the work I've been doing, and that's what I'm focused on,” Goldman said.
Goldman and Torres are not the only Democrats who face primary challenges in New York. Rep. Adriano Espaillat also faces one from Darializa Avila Chevalier. Espaillat endorsed former governor Andrew Cuomo in the primary, but backed Mamdani after the primary.
The chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said he welcomed a primary challenge.
“I think is, I've always thought it was a mistake for any elected–any elected–to try to avoid primary,” he told The Independent. “Every two years we got to face our voters, and they have to sign our contract, and they got to say, yeah, you can continue to represent us or not.”
But not every incumbent Democrat in New York faces a viable challenger. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries faced a potential tough fight against city council member Chi Ossé, but Ossé ultimately backed out.
Jeffries said he would back incumbent Democrats.
“I stand in support of every single one of my colleagues in New York City and beyond,” he told The Independent.
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