Schumer on the Sidelines: Are Democrats Eyeing an AOC Takeover?

Is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) facing his own, off-year version of an October surprise? When legislators left the Swamp, many hit the campaign trail, either stumping for their own re-elections or for their colleagues. Sen. Schumer, who isn’t up for re-election until 2028, is no exception. But both his style of campaigning and how he’s being received don’t match up with his august position as a party leader. Are his fellow Democrats merely disillusioned – or could it be they’re angling for an AOC takeover?

Souring on Schumer

Since the current recess began last month, the GOP Senate leader, John Thune of South Dakota, has been hot on the campaign trail stumping for his colleagues. Thune has zipped around the nation, hitting Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio, all in rapid succession. During an interview with Fox News Digital before attending a roundtable with Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), he joked: “I tell all of our candidates, I’ll come out for you or against you, whichever helps you the most.”

And, largely, Thune is well received and apparently appreciated by the candidates he campaigns for. Neither, however, seems to be the case for Schumer. The Senate minority leader has sort of faded into the background this cycle, shifting to virtual events and leaving the in-person campaigns to high-profile surrogates like former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris. As for his reception, though, he’s getting less Obama and more Kamala treatment.

Numerous candidates have tried to distance themselves from Schumer and either suggested they wouldn’t support him for party leader again or have come right out and said it directly. Scott Colom, a district attorney in Mississippi running against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t like the party being represented by two people from the same borough, referring, of course, to Schumer in the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries in the House.

Others have been more direct. Michigan hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and Adam Hamilton of Kansas both said explicitly that they won’t support Schumer if they win their elections this year.

“And no disrespect for him at all, it’s just that I think we need new ideas,” Hamilton told CBS News. “We need new ideas, we need fresh leadership. I support term limits. I support age limits, and I just think there’s a time where we need to have new and fresh leadership coming in, and I think this is one of those times.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who doesn’t have to face the electorate again until 2030, is one of the few sitting Democrat senators outside of this election cycle who was willing to come right out and say it. She argued earlier in the year that Democrats were still recovering from the 2024 election and that every day, “there’s a debate within the party about the path forward.”

“That’s why I believe we need significant new leadership,” she argued. “The old models are no longer working, and that includes the Democratic Party.”

That’s quite the turn from Schumer’s unanimous election as party leader in the Senate back in 2016.

Who’s Waiting in the Wings?

Sen. Schumer is serving his fifth term. When it’s up at the end of 2028, he will have served in the Senate for 30 years. However the 2026 elections turn out, Schumer isn’t planning to go anywhere. “I am running for re-election for leader,” he told Politico. “Period.”

So what has changed, and who’s waiting in the wings to take over? One lawmaker is being floated by some as a possible new leader who has the backing of progressives, including some who have spoken out against Schumer recently: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). But neither Van Hollen nor many of his colleagues have been willing to weigh in on that speculation.

It may well be that the gentleman from Maryland is who Democrats are eyeing as party leader for the 2027 session. But what if the young socialists and progressives are looking to replace Schumer entirely in 2028? Recall that talking point about age and term limits. That goes much further than simply who leads the party. That sounds like primary talk. And who’s the rising star of the Empire State right now and darling of the democratic socialists? Why, none other than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of course.

At age 29, Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC as she’s commonly called, became the youngest woman elected to the US Congress. First elected in 2018, she’s currently serving her fourth term. She has won all four elections so far handily – taking 70% or more of the vote in the first three and 68.9% in 2024, according to Ballotpedia, and it seems she’s on track to do the same this year.

There has been much speculation recently about just what AOC plans to do in the near future. As Liberty Nation News previously reported, back in August, the New York congresswoman seemed like she might be setting up for a big announcement for 2028. She has been making moves and dropping comments that, while leaving her options open, seem to mirror the build-up to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential bids.

And the betting markets seemed to like her for it, too. For the question “Will AOC announce a run for Senate or President before 2028?” the market priced president at 62%, Senate at 36%, and neither at just 2%. A fresh look at Polymarket US shows AOC ranked third behind JD Vance and Gavin Newsom as the most likely 2028 US presidential election winner, and third behind Newsom and Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff to become the likely 2028 Democratic presidential nominee.

She’s no longer trending for VP or Senate – it seems bettors have lined up behind the presidential run. But betting markets aside, what are her chances, really, of winning the White House in 2028 against the current vice president (or, even in her own party, against Gavin Newsom) after just five terms in the House?

Should Democrats – especially younger socialists and progressives – look to primary Schumer in 2028, however, who else could do it better?