Schumer has high name recognition as Senate Minority Leader. Gillibrand was easily re-elected last year, defeating Republican challenger Chele Farley by 34 percent.
The freshman New York lawmaker, a Yorktown High School graduate and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, has become the face of the Democratic Party’s progressive youth movement. This Harris poll for "Axios on HBO" found socialism is soaring in popularity, especially among women ages 18 to 54.
AOC, who represents the Bronx and Queens, has one of the largest followings on Twitter -- after President Donald Trump. She also has become one of the Democratic Party's most popular endorsers -- after the Obamas and Clintons of Chappaqua. She recently generated a Twitter storm with her video appearance with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading presidential candidate.
Finally, she is not afraid to challenge her own political party’s aging hierarchy, arguing that the U.S. House of Representatives should launch an impeachment investigation into Trump while spearheading "Medicare for All" and the "Green New Deal."
Corbin Trent, her spokesman, said Ocasio-Cortez is thinking long-term when she speaks of unifying the party around progressive politics. “Having worked on her campaign, I don’t think we’re going to be moving to a different role anytime soon,” Trent told Axios.
Ocasio-Cortez has only run for public office in her NYC district. How would she fare in a statewide race against Schumer or Gillibrand which requires campaigning beyond Queens and the Bronx? And how would she do in the general election when many Upstate residents are registered Republicans?
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