A DSA lawmaker says the group is urging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toward a 2028 presidential run as insiders discuss a Chi Ossé challenge to Chuck Schumer.
The New York Post reported that several DSA sources described ongoing talks about running Brooklyn Councilman Chi Ossé for Schumer’s Senate seat. Schumer is the Senate minority leader, and his term ends in 2028.
Ossé visited Buffalo and Kingston, New York, before speaking Tuesday at a Mid-Hudson Valley Democratic Socialists of America event. Organizers called the gathering “Take Our Power Back.”
No formal Senate campaign or filing was identified. But the Kingston event offered a clear look at the left’s ambitions: promote Ocasio-Cortez nationally and find a socialist challenger for Schumer at home.
Ossé, a 28-year-old second-term city councilman, told the audience that socialists must win office to fight fascism. He also argued that current Democratic leaders were failing to meet the moment.
Ossé rejected the idea that younger politicians should wait behind longtime party leaders.
“I think the era of wait-your-turn politics is over. The time for us, the socialists, is right now.”
He also criticized the party’s leadership without limiting his remarks to Schumer.
“I don’t believe that our current Democratic leadership is standing up to the plate. A lot of people are calling for change.”
Ossé advocated government-run electricity during the Kingston event. The proposal placed policy behind the political talk and showed that this possible Senate campaign would offer voters a sharp ideological choice.
Sarahana Shrestha, a state assemblywoman and Mid-Hudson DSA member, attacked moderate Democrats while discussing the technology industry.
“We really need socialists leading the fight against big tech because I don’t trust moderate Democrats to do it.”
That distrust matters. The DSA figures at the event were not asking moderates to adjust course. They were discussing how socialists could take their places.
Shrestha also addressed speculation about Ocasio-Cortez, the New York congresswoman known as a member of the “Squad.” She described the presidential pressure campaign as active and open.
“I think it’s not even a rumor. DSA is openly trying to convince AOC that she should run.”
Shrestha acknowledged that such a campaign would carry a personal cost for Ocasio-Cortez. “I think it’s not a decision to be taken lightly,” she said.
The presidential effort and the Senate discussions fit together politically. If Ocasio-Cortez pursued the White House, DSA activists could turn their attention toward placing Ossé in a statewide race against Schumer.
Yet the two prospects do not rest on equal footing. Shrestha publicly described the push for an Ocasio-Cortez campaign, while unnamed DSA sources described the Ossé talks to the Post. Neither effort amounts to a declared candidacy.
Ossé has already tested party boundaries. He previously challenged House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a congressional primary before dropping that bid.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged the DSA to end that campaign, arguing it could disrupt his first-year agenda. The Post reported that Mamdani and Ossé later repaired their relationship.
Ossé has also built his city record around left-wing policy and identity politics. He backed New York City’s broker-fee ban and said in 2021 that “a cis white man should not be the next speaker of the council.”
Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf warned that a Senate contest would require a far broader coalition than Ossé needed for his Brooklyn council seat.
“Statewide races are tough, they’re entirely different than working in the city.”
Sheinkopf described the public activity as a test of whether an Ossé campaign could attract support.
“He’s testing it out.... It’s like a trial balloon, you throw it up in the air and if nobody shoots it down, you know you have some possibilities. That’s what he’s doing.”
For now, the DSA’s 2028 plan remains a set of public appeals and private discussions. But its direction is plain: less patience with Democratic leaders, more socialist candidates and a push for control at the highest levels.
Voters should judge that agenda in clear daylight, before its champions gain the power to impose it.
