Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leads Sen. Chuck Schumer by 18% in a poll of a potential New York Democratic 2028 primary matchup.
The progressive lawmaker has the backing of 55% of likely voters compared to just 36% for Schumer in the head-to-head survey by the liberal Data for Progress opinion research firm that was released on Friday.
Neither Ocasio-Cortez nor Schumer commented on the poll, which comes more than three years before the potential Senate primary clash could unfold.
Ocasio-Cortez bests Schumer across racial lines, with a 16-point lead among Black voters, a 15-point lead among white voters, and a 28-point lead among Latinos.
Among voters under 45, Ocasio-Cortez, 35, leads by 50 points while she carries voters 45 and over by 8 points. Ocasio-Cortez also leads with voters across lines of gender and educational attainment, and by a blowout 84%-to-9% margin among self-described “very liberal” voters.
Schumer, 74, leads among moderates by 15%.
The poll, which surveyed more than 700 likely New York state Democratic primary voters, also showed overwhelming support for a tougher stance against President Trump’s second-term policies.
A whopping 84% said Democrats are not doing enough to push back against the Trump agenda, while 10% said they are putting up about the right amount of resistance. Just 4% said the opposition party was doing too much to fight Trump.
“Democrats are united in just wanting to stand up, wanting to fight, wanting to see someone taking a stand for them,” said Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of Data for Progress.
The poll is the latest sign that Schumer’s popularity has taken a hit since he allowed a Republican stopgap spending bill to pass last month. The move averted a government shutdown but many Democrats say Schumer effectively caved to Trump.
Schumer argues that a shutdown would have been an even bigger disaster for the American people and that Democrats need to pick their political fights carefully.
Schumer Friday vowed to fight tooth and nail against Trump’s sweeping plan for tariffs on imported goods that has sent global markets plunging.
“It’s a disaster for American families,” Schumer said.
He praised a handful of Republican senators for backing measures that would limit the president’s ability to unilaterally impose tariffs without congressional approval.
Schumer, who would be 78 if he wins a sixth term in the Senate, has served as Democratic leader in the upper chamber since 2017.
Democrats face a very uphill battle to regain control of the Senate anytime soon, with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority and only a couple of swing state GOP senators up for election in 2026.