Lefty Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is dipping her toe in the 2028 political waters as she launches an upstate New York voter outreach tour on DSA-friendly turf, The Post has learned.
The far-left Dem is kicking off the tour in Buffalo to rally potential supporters before the midterm elections and amid continuing speculation that she may make a White House run in two years — joining Gov. Kathy Hochul for some upstate cred during the trip, Gothamist reported.
AOC’s team said she will also be hitting up Syracuse and Ithaca, home to Cornell University, which counts several members of the Democratic Socialists of America on the city council — and sits in Tompkins County, one of only two in the Empire State that went for Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
Buffalo and Syracuse both voted to elect DSA members to local and state Assembly seats in June elections.
“ I think she brings a lot of energy to the process, engages young people in particular,” Hochul said during an interview on WNYC. “I’ve encouraged this. I have asked her and others to go statewide to create the momentum we need, the energy around this next election. So I think she’ll be very well-received.”
In addition to a string of speaking engagements, AOC’s upstate jaunt will include an “inactive voter training” session Thursday night, and she said she will make a $300,000 contribution to state Democrats.
“I want to be very forthright: I’ve got our intention to transform the state of New York,” Ocasio-Cortez said at Thursday’s rally to roaring applause.
Ocasio-Cortez failed to mention Hochul or any of the longtime Democratic pols on the statewide ticket in November — appearing focused on her own “national strategy” of winning midterm House races and getting involved in New York.
“We’re not going to win by campaigning the same way,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Maxwell Bowman, co-chair of Buffalo’s DSA, said Hochul plans to campaign with AOC on her trip upstate.
Bowman also called for an overhaul of the statewide Democratic Party moving it away from corporate money interests.
“The Democratic Party in New York State has been a corporate party serving money interests for a very long time. And I think we need to change those politics,” he said.
She announced earlier this week that 2028 was a make-or-break election year — telling the New York Times that if she loses bids for her House seat, the Senate or the White House, she’s packing it in.
Despite rampant speculation, she has not announced a run for either seat.
“I’m leaving all my options open,” AOC said when pressed by reporters.
“I am running for reelection.”
For this year, her goal is to target inactive Democratic voters across the state and boost the party’s reach in battleground races.
“There’s a lot of outreach to the persuadable voters, but there is worry about the Democratic base and enthusiasm there,” she said.
“I know that part of the role that we can play is reconnecting with a lot of people who feel disappointed in what they feel has been leadership that has not been fighting hard enough for them.”
“2028 is two years away, I’m focused on this,” the congresswoman maintained.
Regardless, state Republican leaders are making it clear she’s not welcome upstate.
“We warned you about NYC socialism spreading upstate,” state Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra [R-Nassau] posted on X. “Turns out it’s Kathy Hochul driving the bus.”
Erie County Republican Chairman Michael Kracker even warned that AOC’s mission seeks to shove her own party farther to the radical left.
“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is coming to Erie County to establish herself as the true leader of the New York Democratic Party, and local Democrats are falling in line, embracing her extreme socialist agenda without question,” Kracker said. “They don’t have to go along with it.”
Even former Golden Gloves boxing champ Joe “Baby Joe” Mesi, a lifelong Democrat, took a swing.
“The party I know fights for working people, not for radical politics that hurt them,” Mesi said. “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t speak for me, and she doesn’t speak for the Buffalo I grew up in.”
AOC bashed Hochul’s Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, on Thursday as a “profoundly dangerous” Trump ally and praised the governor for a slew of policies — including her AI moratorium, sanctuary state measures and funneling money into New York City for childcare.
“Her opponent and the Republican candidate in this race is profoundly dangerous,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.
“To me, the choice is very, very clear and it’s not just about the lesser of two evils.”
