This story was produced as part of a partnership between THE CITY and NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute.
New York City Democrats in the House are boosting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s role at the forefront of the Democratic Party after she declined a second run to be the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee.
“I love AOC. I think she’s a star,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat said. “She’s one of the best assets the Democratic Party has, and we should be using her to our fullest advantage.”
Ocasio-Cortez said Monday that she will not run to be Oversight’s top Democrat, telling reporters, “The underlying dynamics in the caucus have not shifted with respect to seniority as much as I think would be necessary” to win the position. In December, she lost the contest for the role to the more senior Rep. Gerry Connolly, who announced in late April that he is stepping back from committee leadership because his cancer has returned.
The shadow race for the ranking spot is already crowded without Ocasio-Cortez. But even as her city colleagues mull over who to support, they haven’t entirely moved past Ocasio-Cortez’s leadership bid last year.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez suggested to NOTUS that she’d like to see Ocasio-Cortez — who currently serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is widely regarded as one of Congress’ most powerful entities — in the Oversight ranking member position, despite her announcement that she will not run.
“I think that she will be extraordinary as ranking member,” Velázquez, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, told NOTUS. “It has been demonstrated that she’s an inspiration to so many, and that she’s not afraid of elevating the issues that are important to working families, and that is what we need to meet this moment.”
The December vote was conducted via secret ballot, with only some members — such as those in the Congressional Progressive Caucus — openly backing Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez didn’t wait long to publicly remove herself from the new shadow race for the job. But before she did, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that she would be a “potent” candidate for the position.
Other Democrats have raved about Ocasio-Cortez recently. As doubts swirl among Democrats about whether Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic leaders in Congress are doing enough to spearhead resistance to President Donald Trump, Ocasio-Cortez has capitalized. She recently beat her own fundraising record and drew giant audiences in red-leaning towns and states alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders.
But some Democrats still see Ocasio-Cortez, with her roots in her 2018 challenge to a senior Democrat and years on her party’s left, as an awkward fit for high-ranking roles in the party. Her December attempt at the Oversight leadership role faced pushback from some of the older members of the party, who told NOTUS last year that they voted for Connolly because of the tradition of considering seniority as one of the main factors in deciding leadership.
She’s also diverged from some of her colleagues on a variety of policy issues, including her criticism of Israel.
One of those colleagues, Rep. Dan Goldman — a staunchly pro-Israel Democrat — still praised Ocasio-Cortez and told NOTUS he was “sure she would have made for a terrific ranking member.”
But he added that as a rising voice in her party, he’d like to see Ocasio-Cortez be a “voice that reflects the broader caucus’s values and liberal Democratic Party values that include freedom and equality and the pursuit of the American dream.”
Those comments come as Ocasio-Cortez has largely aligned herself with figures who’ve denounced the party establishment and called for fresh leadership, while simultaneously seeing hesitation from more centrist members of her party about a possible 2028 presidential run.
“She is, I think, rightly very thoughtful and careful, and needs to continue to be,” Goldman added. “In many respects, she doesn’t just represent herself. She, to many, represents the whole party.”
Rep. Grace Meng, who represents part of Queens, told NOTUS she hasn’t had any recent conversations with Ocasio-Cortez about what type of role she should take on next in the party, but called her an “instrumental voice” for the New York delegation and Democrats more broadly.
“If she wants to be here for the long haul, I think she has a bright future,” Meng said.
Shifra Dayak is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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