Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) had her largest ever fundraising quarter, raking in close to $10 million as she raises her profile during a time of potential change for the Democratic party, with new faces showing willingness to challenge the old guard.
AOC's campaign manager Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben said on Tuesday that the funds came from 266,000 individual donors who, in average, gave $21. "AOC doesn't take a dollar from lobbyists or corporate PACS. Our top donor professions are teachers and nurses. 64% were first time contributors," he said.
The lawmaker reacted to the figure on X, saying "I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy." "Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities. All with an avg donation of $21. THANK YOU & pa'lante," she added, using an expression in Spanish that means "onward."
I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 15, 2025
Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities.
All with an avg donation of $21.
THANK YOU & Pa’lante 🙏🏽♥️ https://t.co/gv7dR2ICGC
The donations come as AOC has been touring the country along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, holding rallies aimed at denouncing the Trump administration and mobilizing voters. They have drawn crowds of thousands in different parts of the U.S. At a recent rally she argued about the need to reframe the divide in the Democratic Party not as progressive versus moderate, but as those going after Republican President Donald Trump and those being more cautious.
"No matter who you voted for in the past, no matter if you know all the right words to say, no matter your race, religion, gender identity or status," Ocasio-Cortez said at a different rally at Arizona State University. "No matter even if you disagree with me on a few things. If you are willing to fight for someone you don't know, you are welcome here."
Attendees in different rallies have called on her to seek higher office, primarying Chuck Schumer for a New York Senate seat in 2028 or even running for president in the next election. A recent survey by Data for Progress considering a potential Senate primary showed the New York City lawmaker ahead by almost 20 percentage points, getting 55% of the vote compared to Schumer's 36%. The poll was conducted on March 31 among 767 likely voters.
Politico, which first reported on the survey, described Data for Progress as a liberal firm. The fact that it conducted the poll, the outlet analyzed, "underscores that liberal organizations are continuing to look for ways to prod Schumer to take a tougher stance against President Donald Trump."
Another survey by Echelon polled her along with several other Democrats ahead of a potential presidential primary. She got 7% of the support, same as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and behind Sen. Cory Booker (11%) and Kamala Harris (28%).
About two-thirds of Democrats have a favorable opinion of AOC and just 5% view her unfavorably, according to Gallup polling from January. In her home state, about 4 in 10 New York voters in the November election viewed her favorably while about the same share had an unfavorable opinion, according to AP VoteCast.
Other Democrats, however, are still weary of her, painting her as too progressive to appeal to a broad coalition of Americans.
"Her politics are just too far left for this party," a chair of a state party that sends a large number of delegates to Democratic presidential conventions told NBC News of Ocasio-Cortez as a potential national candidate. "I don't agree with most of her policy positions, but she's showing a fight, which a lot of people are looking for their members of Congress to do, and they're just not seeing it."
Originally published on Latin Times
