Organization cites 2028 presidential draft efforts in disclosing her status
In a statement released Tuesday night, the Democratic Socialists of America confirmed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rejoined the national organization in August 2026, seven years after her original one-year membership lapsed. The organization said: “Democratic Socialists of America confirms Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a member in good standing of our organization, having recently rejoined in August 2026.”
The DSA added that Ocasio-Cortez had originally joined in 2018 with a one-year membership during her first House campaign, “which DSA’s national leadership recently noticed had lapsed, in 2019.” The organization said she had “since renewed her membership as of this month.”
The confirmation marked an unusual public step by the organization, which attributed the disclosure to ongoing internal efforts to draft Ocasio-Cortez as a 2028 presidential primary candidate. “While it is atypical for DSA to address the membership status of individuals, ongoing discussions about the 2028 presidential campaign have prompted this release,” the DSA statement said.
The organization continued: “With chapters and members campaigning to draft Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a potential Presidential Primary candidate, we believe that the status of her membership is essential information for members to have in their deliberations and discussions.”
Earlier posts, ABC interview, and the 2024 endorsement dispute
Even after her membership lapsed, the DSA publicly continued to refer to Ocasio-Cortez as a member. In November 2020, the organization posted on X its “congratulations to DSA member AOC on officially being re-elected to Congress.” In March 2024, the DSA wrote that “We commend DSA members Rep @CoriBush and Rep @AOC for upholding our democratic values by voting against this authoritarian legislation,” referring to a then-pending bill to ban TikTok.
Earlier this month, ABC host Jonathan Karl asked Ocasio-Cortez in an interview whether she was still a member of the DSA. She replied: “Of the New York City chapter.” When Karl asked, “Not the national chapter?” she answered: “No.” Asked to elaborate on the distinction, she said: “Every DSA chapter is formed locally. And so the New York City DSA chapter, those are folks that you know, it’s kind of like your local union chapter.”
In July 2024, the DSA withdrew its endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez at the request of NYC-DSA. The organization cited her vote for a House resolution that described “denial of Israel’s right to exist” as an example of antisemitism, as well as her participation in a public panel discussion on antisemitism.
“A national DSA endorsement comes with a serious commitment to the movement for Palestine and our collective socialist project,” the DSA said at the time. “To build a socialist movement that’s capable of defeating capitalism, we must demand more from leaders in our movement.”
The organization added: “AOC recently hosted a public panel with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, lobbyists for the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism. On this panel, anti-Zionism and antisemitism were conflated and boycotting Zionist institutions was condemned. This sponsorship is a deep betrayal to all those who’ve risked their welfare to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct action in recent months, and in decades past.”
Guardian outreach and membership fees
The Guardian reached out to the DSA for additional comment, but the organization declined. The Guardian also contacted Ocasio-Cortez’s office.
According to City & State New York, annual DSA membership cost $60 at the time Ocasio-Cortez joined in 2018, and members were required to manually renew their dues each year. The organization has since moved to automatic renewals and introduced monthly membership options ranging from $5 to $50.
The organization’s ranks grew exponentially across the country after a string of election victories from New York to Florida.