A top New York Democrat warned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez against attempting to unseat Sen. Chuck Schumer during the upcoming primary elections, saying she would “absolutely” lose to the current Senate minority leader.
“Chuck Schumer has been a progressive force in the state for decades,” Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic committee, told the New York Post. “She has a constituency that admires her and supports her, and they’re in her community, and I think it would be a loss for them if she were to do that.”
Ocasio-Cortez has hinted in the past that she wouldn’t be “staying in the House forever” and once refused to rule out the idea that she could challenge Schumer in a 2022 primary.
The far-left “Squad” member was also critical of current Democratic leadership in a recent interview, saying it was time for a new generation of leaders to take over while admitting she wasn’t sure who was currently up for the task.
But Jacobs believes that would be a bad idea, saying that such a challenge would be about Ocasio-Cortez’s “ambition more than” any “need” for her to run, adding that she would “absolutely” lose to Schumer.
It’s possible Jacobs could be persuaded otherwise if he met Ocasio-Cortez, which he admitted he is willing to do.
“We’ve never met. I would look forward to doing that,” he said. “I am open to that at any time.”
But there’s also a chance Ocasio-Cortez could go a completely different route, abandoning her career in politics altogether.
“I don’t even know if I want to be in politics,” Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Times in November.
While Jacobs isn’t confident in her chances, President Trump expressed an opposite view earlier this year when he stated his belief that Ocasio-Cortez would “kick his a–” in reference to a potential primary challenge of Schumer.
Neither Schumer nor Ocasio-Cortez immediately responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
