AOC rejoined the Democratic Socialists of America after a seven-year lapse as a member.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), widely seen as a leading voice of the Democratic Party’s far left, has renewed her membership in the national DSA organization. The move comes as she continues weighing a potential 2028 presidential run.
The DSA confirmed the renewal in a statement. Almost immediately after she rejoined, a group of DSA leaders announced plans to circulate a petition pushing the organization to formally endorse Ocasio-Cortez for president in 2028.
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The petition calls for that endorsement to come “as early as possible so that we can use the campaign to grow our movement and spread socialist politics.”
As originally reported, the ideological makeup of DSA leadership has drawn significant scrutiny. Julian Epstein, a former Democratic Chief Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, addressed the group’s politics directly in an interview on The Alex Marlow Show. Epstein told listeners that Americans should understand the DSA as a communist organization, not merely a socialist one.
He backed that characterization by pointing to data gathered on the DSA’s policy committee, which he described as the organization’s governing board. His conclusion was that the leadership is largely communist in ideology, and notably, admittedly so.
That context matters. Ocasio-Cortez is not simply re-affiliating with a left-leaning advocacy group. She is rejoining an organization whose own leaders have not distanced themselves from the communist label. And those same leaders wasted no time moving to tie her name to a presidential campaign under that banner.
AOC has not confirmed a 2028 presidential run, but her renewed DSA membership and the immediate push for an endorsement signal that a campaign is being actively considered. The DSA’s call to use such a campaign to spread socialist politics suggests the organization sees her potential candidacy as a vehicle for a broader ideological agenda, not just an electoral effort.
For a politician already positioned at the left edge of the Democratic Party, the renewed DSA affiliation adds another layer of complexity to any national campaign she might launch. Whether mainstream Democratic voters would embrace a candidate backed by a group whose leadership identifies as communist remains an open question.
What is not in question is that the move was deliberate. Seven years as a lapsed member ended the moment she chose to re-engage, and the response from DSA leadership was immediate and organized. The groundwork for a 2028 run, at least within socialist circles, is already being laid.
