NEW YORK — Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s resounding election win is giving Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer plenty to worry about.
His refusal to endorse Mr. Mamdani, a 34-year-old socialist, has ruffled feathers on the Democratic Party’s left flank — especially the energized crowd that’s been pushing for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to take on Mr. Schumer in a 2028 primary.
The congresswoman from the Bronx is the undisputed star of the left, and she championed Mr. Mamdani’s campaign that captured over half of the vote on his way to becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Mr. Mamdani’s toppling of 67-year-old former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s mayoral election could end up being a dress rehearsal for a more seismic fight: Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, now 36, versus Mr. Schumer, 74.
A Senate run would seem to be the natural next step for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Her 2018 upset victory over 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th Congressional District signaled a generational shift and has inspired a wave of other far-left activists to follow her lead.
There is also a clear appetite for change, particularly among young voters, who have grown disillusioned with Mr. Schumer and the status quo and are all-in on Mr. Mamdani.
“If she stays committed to what got her elected, she would definitely beat Schumer,” said Liz, a 19-year-old New York voter who declined to provide her last name. “New Yorkers don’t like Schumer.”
“He’s of the old Democratic Party that doesn’t represent us anymore,” said the political philosophy major at City University of New York. “You know, if you just watch any interview with him, what he talks about are not the things that New Yorkers care about. You know, he’s too invested in Israel.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who is on a glide path to reelection next year, will then have to decide whether to take on Mr. Schumer or aim for something even higher, perhaps the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
Most expect her to keep climbing, given she’s not known for playing it safe.
Mr. Schumer is now poised to get caught right in the middle of a political firefight between President Trump and Mr. Mamdani, likely forcing the veteran lawmakers to join Team Mamdani.
On election night, Mr. Mamdani signaled he is ready to go toe-to-toe with the president.
“So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” he said.
Mr. Schumer wasn’t in the room for that moment, but Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was — making it clear she is squarely behind Mr. Mamdani.
Celebrating with supporters, she told MSNBC the win proves that “Americans everywhere are not going to be scared [or] intimidated by an administration that is violating the rights and making life hard and unaffordable for every single American in this country.”
That’s the kind of message that has made Ms. Ocasio-Cortez one of the party’s biggest stars.
Tens of thousands flocked over the summer to see the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour headlined by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernard Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont.
Without naming names, she also distanced herself from Democrats, such as Mr. Schumer, who did not endorse Mr. Mamdani after he defeated Mr. Cuomo by nearly 13 points in the party’s June primary, which prompted Mr. Cuomo to run as an independent in the general election.
“We have a Democratic nominee,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Capitol Hill in September. “Are we a party that rallies behind our nominee or not?”
Her allies in Congress are eager to see her next move.
Pressed on whether Ms. Ocasio-Cortez should primary Mr. Schumer, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a fellow member of the far-left “Squad” on Capitol Hill, said on CNN this week that she wants Ms. Ocasio-Cortez to do “whatever she wants and I will be there to support her.”
Asked whether Ms. Ocasio-Cortez could defeat Mr. Schumer, Rep. Rho Khanna paused before answering: “Yes, but it is up to her what she wants to do.”
Still, some wonder if she is ready to take on Mr. Schumer.
Mr. Schumer, born in Brooklyn, has strong ties across the state. He has held his Senate seat since 1999, after 18 years in the House, and five years in the New York State Assembly.
Calls to oust Mr. Schumer got louder earlier this year after he voted for a GOP spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, angering the party’s base.
The liberal group Data for Progress released a survey of likely New York Democratic voters around that time showing Mr. Schumer trailed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez by a 55% to 36% margin in a hypothetical matchup, with 84% of respondents saying Democratic leaders in Washington were not doing enough to stand up against President Trump and the MAGA movement.
In the ongoing shutdown fight, Mr. Schumer has taken a different tack — refusing to back the Republican plan and demanding more health care funding.
Mr. Trump and Republicans insist Mr. Schumer’s motives are personal. They contend Mr. Schumer is more interested in protecting his political hide from a Mamdani-like challenge than helping Americans hurt by the shutdown.
“Chuck Schumer’s more afraid of AOC than millions of Americans going hungry,” House Speaker Mike Johnson recently said on X.
Another Louisiana Republican, Sen. John Kennedy, delivered a blunter assessment: “Senator Schumer is nervous as a pregnant nun about losing re-election to the socialist wing of his party led by Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.”
• Seth McLaughlin reported from Washington.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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