Ted Cruz Reveals Who He Thinks Will Run in 2028, and Which Notorious Dem is ‘Finished’
A political earthquake is rattling Washington after one of the Senate’s most outspoken conservatives made a startling forecast about who will actually run the Democratic Party in the years ahead.
Ted Cruz didn’t mince words when he stepped in front of a camera last Thursday and named names.
The Republican from Texas zeroed in on two figures increasingly seen as the face of the Democratic Party’s left flank: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani.
According to Cruz, the New York congresswoman is gearing up for a presidential run, while the newly elected mayor of America’s largest city has his sights set on a U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by one of the chamber’s most powerful Democrats.
Cruz laid out his reasoning in blunt terms during a video posted to X. “I think AOC is going to run for president, and I think Zohran Mamdani is going to replace Chuck Schumer in the Senate,” he said.
Rather than celebrating turmoil within Democratic ranks, Cruz used the moment to deliver an unexpected message to his own party.
“Some Republicans are cheering because the Democrats are crazy,” he said. “This country needs two parties that actually love America.”
Cruz didn’t stop there. In a separate post, he took direct aim at Schumer, suggesting the longtime Senate leader’s career in New York politics has effectively run its course.
“Chuck Schumer is finished. He can never again win a Democrat primary in New York. He knows it. Which is why I joke that he will be the inaugural member of the AOC for President Campaign,” Cruz wrote.
The comments land at a moment when the 2028 presidential contest, still more than two years out, has already become a subject of intense speculation. No Democrat has officially entered the race.
For her part, Ocasio-Cortez has consistently brushed aside questions about her presidential ambitions, redirecting the conversation toward next year’s midterms instead.
Speaking with The Independent about her strong polling numbers, she offered a measured response. “I think there’s two things, one is that, you know, polls are polls, and a horse race is a horse race,” she said.
She acknowledged the support nonetheless. “I am, of course, I think, very deeply humbled and grateful to folks who participate and convey that confidence,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Her stated priority, she insisted, lies elsewhere entirely.
“I think my main focus is really genuinely just the midterms right now, and we have to make sure that we win this majority,” she said.
Fresh survey data lends weight to the buzz surrounding her.
A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll published Wednesday showed Ocasio-Cortez topping the Democratic primary field with 22% support among likely voters.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sat close behind at 21%.
The remaining field trailed by wide margins: Senator Mark Kelly at 9%, California Governor Gavin Newsom at 8%, Senator Bernie Sanders at 6%, and former Vice President Kamala Harris at 5%.
A competing Emerson College poll released the following day painted a different picture entirely. That survey had Buttigieg out front at 19%, with Newsom close behind at 17%.
Ocasio-Cortez shared third place in the Emerson poll, tied with Senator Jon Ossoff at 13% each.
Harris registered 8%, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear posted 7%, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro logged 5%, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker trailed at 3%.
Republicans, meanwhile, are watching their own field take shape, with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeatedly surfacing as top contenders for the 2028 GOP nomination.
Mamdani’s profile has grown rapidly since his rise through New York City politics, adding fuel to speculation about how far his political career could ultimately extend.
Cruz’s comments, though speculative by nature, arrive as both parties increasingly turn their attention toward the leaders who will define the next presidential cycle.
The ideological shift Cruz alluded to has been building for years.
Democratic socialism has steadily gained ground within the party over the past decade, propelled by policy priorities such as Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, and higher taxes on wealthy Americans.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez remain the movement’s most recognizable champions, but a wave of younger progressive candidates has followed their lead into congressional, state, and local office.
That trend has continued in recent election cycles, with additional democratic socialist candidates winning Democratic primaries, particularly in urban strongholds, and reigniting debate over where the party’s identity is headed next.
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