Poll: AOC Leads Schumer by 20 Points for Senate Seat

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is leading Chuck Schumer by double digits in a new head-to-head poll of the 2028 New York primary.

The survey by the liberal firm Data for Progress, first shared with POLITICO, found that 55 percent of Democratic likely voters said they supported or leaned toward supporting Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, while 36 percent backed or leaned toward backing Sen. Schumer. Nine percent were undecided.

The poll is the latest sign that Schumer’s standing among the Democratic base has taken a hit since he voted to advance a GOP funding bill last month that avoided a government shutdown.

The fact that Data for Progress conducted and released the poll also underscores that liberal organizations are continuing to look for ways to prod Schumer to take a tougher stance against President Donald Trump.

“This poll really does show that 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.

Deiseroth added that her firm “has a long tradition of wanting to challenge the status quo of Democratic Party leadership” and released polling in 2021 showing then-Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was vulnerable to a primary challenge. Sinema later registered as an independent and declined to run for reelection.

It is unclear what the Schumer-Ocasio-Cortez poll could mean for the New York primary in three years, however, with surveys this early rarely being predictive.

Ocasio-Cortez has also been noncommittal about a potential Senate run. Schumer has filed paperwork to run for reelection.

Schumer has argued that voting to advance the GOP bill was the best of two bad options and a government shutdown would have given more power to Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk.

The senator has faced calls to take a more aggressive stance against Trump or step down as minority leader from a handful of liberal groups and House members. But Schumer has prevented any defections within his Senate Democratic Caucus and his minority leader position is not at risk as of now.

The Data for Progress poll of 770 likely voters was conducted in late March by text message and web panel. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.