NYC socialists urge AOC to run for president and plan 2030 challenge to Gov. Hochul

New York City's chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America voted Saturday to urge Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028, and approved a plan to prepare challenges to Gov. Kathy Hochul and other top Democrats, the New York Times and the New York Post reported.

The votes came at the chapter's biennial city convention, held behind closed doors at the AXA Equitable Center in Midtown, according to the Post. More than 400 delegates attended; the Post put the number at 438, representing a membership the chapter says is about 15,000. The convention sets the chapter's structure and priorities for the next two years, according to its convention site. At the last one, in 2024, the chapter voted to endorse Zohran Mamdani for mayor.

What delegates approved

• "Run AOC Run": a resolution signed by co-chairs Gustavo Gordillo and Grace Mausser encouraging Ocasio-Cortez to run for president, which the Post said passed overwhelmingly. Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes Astoria, Queens, has not said whether she will run.
• Statewide races: a measure titled "From Buffalo to Brooklyn," passed on a consent agenda without debate, commits the chapter to build the infrastructure to contest races for president and U.S. Senate in 2028 and for Senate, governor and lieutenant governor in 2030, the Post reported. It names Hochul, who was just reelected, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand as targets; the Post said Sen. Chuck Schumer is also in its sights.
• Other planks: resolutions to oppose the expansion of AI, campaign for a public bank, push for a $30 city minimum wage by 2030 (it is $17 now), and set up a job board and campaign-staff pipeline, according to the Post.

Council Member Chi Ossé, Assembly members Emily Gallagher and Diana Moreno, and Cea Weaver, who leads Mayor Mamdani's Office to Protect Tenants, were among those backing the statewide resolution, the Post reported. Representatives for Hochul and Gillibrand did not respond to the Post, and Schumer declined to comment.

Why it matters

The chapter has nearly tripled in size since Mamdani's mayoral campaign and helped send two more DSA members to Congress and about half a dozen new members to the State Legislature, the Times reported, but now faces questions about how to use that influence at City Hall and whether to test it nationally. Mamdani, a DSA member, helped Hochul win reelection, the Post noted.

DSA chapters in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago had already passed similar resolutions urging Ocasio-Cortez to run, City & State reported before the convention. Ahead of the vote, members also advanced a proposal to study running a socialist in every City Council district in 2029, Politico reported.