Co/efficient polling has shown a lack of agreement among likely voters concerning the Democratic Party’s future leadership. Co/efficient polling is a U.S.-based analytics firm specializing in political and public affairs research.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stands out as a leading figure, along with Vice President Kamala Harris. As Democrats face recent electoral losses, they have struggled to unite around a common leader, raising speculation about potential presidential candidates for 2028.
University of Kentucky political science professor D. Stephen Voss said, “AOC serves as the face of the Democratic Party for many Trump supporters who dislike national Democrats. They like to pillory her as ignorant and irresponsible.”
Voss added, “At the same time, many Democrats embrace AOC as a worthy young successor to Bernie, someone who can play the role of progressive challenger in a Democratic nomination battle. Likely AOC tops the charts because she attracts so much bipartisan attention. Ocasio-Cortez enjoys good branding, as symbolized by the fact both supporters and critics simply refer to her as AOC. No matter what Ocasio-Cortez does in the next presidential election, she’ll be hard to ignore.”
The polling has found that 26 percent of respondents view Ocasio-Cortez as a leading representative, equal to those who feel there is no clear leader in the party.