Several swing-state Democrats are sending a blunt message to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.: Thanks, but no thanks.
A number of Democratic candidates have been telling the New York progressive to “stay away,” according to a Sunday report from Axios. The outlet said candidates are worried Ocasio-Cortez could sabotage their chances of winning.
“The polling is atrocious for her,” a top Democratic strategist told Axios, adding that she has become a lightning rod.
The pushback is coming even from Democrats who once welcomed her help on the campaign trail.
House candidate Sam Forstag, D-Mont., “suggested” he did not want Ocasio-Cortez to campaign for him in Montana, according to the report. That comes only months after she flew to the state and stumped for him in the rain.
Asked by Axios about Ocasio-Cortez returning to help him, Forstag kept his distance.
“I don’t intend to be having a lot of folks from out of state campaigning with me over these next 40 days,” he said.
Forstag also scrubbed her endorsement from his campaign website, apparently to be extra safe.
The report comes after Ocasio-Cortez endorsed several candidates heading into the November midterms. Among them are Senate hopefuls Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., and socialist Angie Nixon, D-Fla.
In recent months, Ocasio-Cortez has attempted to walk back some of her more controversial positions.
She shrugged off her past support for abolishing prisons and defunding the police, declaring, “Woke 1 was crazy!”
In an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, she explained that the COVID-19 lockdowns made everyone a bit kooky and more willing to humor extreme ideas. Those ideas, she argued, should not be held against Democratic candidates in 2026.
Some Democrats in competitive races, however, appear unwilling to take that chance.
Meanwhile, one prominent election analyst is predicting a strong year for the party regardless.
Cook Political Report founder Charlie Cook declared on Sunday that a Democratic takeover of the House is a “done deal.”
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Cook projected Democrats will gain 20 seats in the House. He added that the party could possibly flip the Senate as well.
But Cook made clear his bullish forecast had little to do with enthusiasm for the Democratic agenda. Instead, he said, it rests mostly on voters being upset with President Donald Trump rather than being drawn to what Democrats are offering.
“It isn’t pro-Democrat,” Cook said. “It’s anti-Trump, basically, and Republicans that have been supportive of the president.”
That assessment may help explain the strategy taking shape among vulnerable Democrats. If voter frustration with the president is driving the political environment, a high-profile progressive like Ocasio-Cortez could be seen as a distraction.
With the midterms drawing closer, swing-state Democrats sound like they want to keep the focus on Trump, and not on AOC.
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