{"id":81251,"date":"2026-11-12T11:56:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T16:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/12\/aoc-taps-power-player-who-helped-bernie-sanders-defy-the-odds-as-major-2028-decision-looms\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T11:56:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T16:56:06","slug":"aoc-taps-power-player-who-helped-bernie-sanders-defy-the-odds-as-major-2028-decision-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/12\/aoc-taps-power-player-who-helped-bernie-sanders-defy-the-odds-as-major-2028-decision-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"AOC taps power player who helped Bernie Sanders defy the odds as major 2028 decision looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a>, D-N.Y., is tapping a key player behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential fundraising operation as speculation swirls over whether the left-wing Democrat could launch her own White House bid in 2028.<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez split with her longtime digital fundraising firm, Middle Seat, Axios reported<\/a> Thursday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. She has now tapped Aisle 518 Strategies, the firm led by Democratic strategist Tim Tagaris, who helped drive Sanders’ record-breaking online<\/a> fundraising operations during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, according to Axios.<\/p>\n

The move comes as some progressive groups are calling<\/a> for Ocasio-Cortez to jump into the White House race in 2028<\/a>. There has also been mounting speculation that she could seek the Senate seat held by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a>, D-N.Y., in 2028, potentially setting up a Democratic primary showdown if Schumer seeks re-election.<\/p>\n

AOC CAMPAIGN MEMO FRAMES GROWTH FROM PROGRESSIVE FIREBRAND TO NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY FORCE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez’s office declined to comment to Fox News Digital on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Middle Seat and Aisle 518 Strategies each did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Sanders’ 2016 fundraising operation capitalized on major campaign moments and attacks from establishment Democrats to generate surges in small-dollar donations, helping propel the relatively obscure Vermont senator into an unexpectedly competitive primary battle against Hillary Clinton, Politico reported at the time.<\/p>\n

“Internet fundraising is about taking potential energy and converting it into kinetic energy, and nobody has done that better than Bernie Sanders,” veteran Democratic operative Ari Rabin-Havt told Politico back in 2016. “Tim [Tagaris] and his team are maximizing that. Their emails are superior.”<\/p>\n

Sanders’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Sanders’ campaign raised $34.5 million in the final three months of 2019, according to the AP<\/a>. He went on to briefly emerge as the Democratic front-runner in early 2020 before Joe Biden consolidated support and secured the nomination.<\/p>\n

AOC OPENS UP ABOUT RACE, GENDER IN WEIGHING POSSIBLE 2028 WHITE HOUSE BID<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez previously parted ways with her longtime campaign manager and creative director earlier in 2026, and also recruited a few former aides, according to Axios.<\/p>\n

“I know there is a lot of speculation about what I will decide to do in 2028,” Ocasio-Cortez said<\/a> in a recent fundraising email. “I get asked about it nearly every interview and event.”<\/p>\n

Still, Ocasio-Cortez told<\/a> The Washington Sun in an interview published Wednesday that she plans to deliberate privately about her political future.<\/p>\n

“I probably will not be sharing anything publicly for a little while,” she told The Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is tapping a key player behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential fundraising operation as speculation swirls over whether the left-wing Democrat could launch her own White House bid in 2028. Ocasio-Cortez split with her longtime digital fundraising firm, Middle Seat, Axios reported Thursday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. She has now … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}