Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions whether a Latina can be elected president

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is giving herself a deadline.

The 36-year-old ascendant leader of the Democratic Party’s progressive movement will decide whether to run for president in 2028 after the upcoming midterm elections.

In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez said she is weighing everything from gender to ethnicity and her age. She’s also cognizant that no woman has been elected president and that the decision could shape her personal life.

“Pretty candidly, I think about my identity,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Times. “I’m not naïve to the fact that we are living under a very regressive administration, and I happen to be a woman, and I, you know, happen to be Latina. And I think that there’s a lot of conversation about electability, and I don’t kind of shy away from those realities.”

A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez declined to provide additional information to CNN about her future plans, which have been the subject of much speculation as she weighs her next political move.

Ocasio-Cortez, who was born to Puerto Rican parents in the Bronx and worked as a bartender before running for Congress, is in part considering how such a monumental decision could shape her personal life, she told the Times.

She has often shared about her life on social media, most recently bringing her followers along as she underwent fertility treatment to freeze her eggs, revealing that her long-term relationship since before she’d been in office had also come to an end.

Her posts generated significant interest online, igniting both conversations about gender and women’s careers as well as drawing some criticism .

Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to political stardom and national prominence after ousting 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in a 2018 primary, isn’t only considering a presidential run.

Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux

The road test: Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s strategy ahead of a potential 2028 campaign

The four-term congresswoman could run for reelection and continue representing parts of the Bronx and Queens as she remains popular at home. She could also choose to run for the Senate seat currently held by Chuck Schumer, who turns 76 in November and who is up for reelection in 2028.

She is also spending time in her home state and has donated $300,000 from her campaign account to help Democrats there, her campaign confirmed to CNN, adding she would be traveling across the state to help boost turnout in the midterms. Starting this weekend, she is planning campaign stops in Buffalo, Syracuse and Ithaca — cities far from her home district in Queens and the Bronx that are also home to pockets of progressive voters.

For now, as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Ocasio-Cortez said race and gender are top of mind as she considers her future and acknowledged that publicly speaking about both issues can be unpopular in American politics.

She said she empathizes with the “heartbreak” people feel around the losses of the two female Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris and how they were treated in the aftermath.

“What is very odd about our political culture is that for some reason when you raise it, people just freak out,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Times. “They get so defensive at the mere suggestion that gender could play a role.”

Of her political next move, Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged timing is of the essence.

“There’s an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And you don’t — and just in life in general — life doesn’t wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.”

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images

纽约州众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯给自己设定了一个最后期限。

这位36岁的民主党进步运动新星将在即将到来的中期选举后决定是否参加2028年总统竞选。

在接受《纽约时报》的深度采访中，奥卡西奥-科尔特斯表示，她正在权衡包括性别、种族和年龄在内的所有因素。她也意识到，历史上还没有女性当选总统，而且这一决定可能会影响她的个人生活。

“坦白地说，我会思考我的身份，”奥卡西奥-科尔特斯告诉《泰晤士报》。“我很清楚我们生活在一个非常倒退的政府统治下，而我恰好是一位女性，而且，你知道，我恰好是一位拉丁裔。我认为现在有很多关于当选能力的讨论，我不会回避这些现实。”

奥卡西奥-科尔特斯的发言人拒绝向 CNN 提供有关她未来计划的更多信息，此前外界对她下一步的政治动向进行了诸多猜测。

奥卡西奥-科尔特斯出生于布朗克斯，父母是波多黎各人。在竞选国会议员之前，她曾做过调酒师。她告诉《泰晤士报》，她正在考虑这样一个重大决定将如何影响她的个人生活。

她经常在社交媒体上分享自己的生活，最近一次是在接受生育治疗冷冻卵子时，她还向粉丝们透露，在她上任之前就一直维持的长期恋情也已经结束。

她的帖子在网上引起了广泛关注，引发了关于性别和女性职业生涯的讨论，同时也招致了一些批评。

奥卡西奥-科尔特斯在 2018 年的初选中击败了连任 10 年的众议员乔·克劳利，一举成为政治明星和全国瞩目的焦点，她考虑的不仅仅是竞选总统。

肯尼·霍尔斯顿/《纽约时报》/Redux

路测：深入剖析亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯为2028年潜在竞选制定的策略

这位连任四届的国会女议员可能会竞选连任，继续代表布朗克斯区和皇后区的部分地区，因为她在家乡仍然很受欢迎。她也可以选择竞选目前由查克·舒默占据的参议院席位，舒默将于11月年满76岁，并将于2028年面临连任选举。

她目前也在家乡纽约州，并已从竞选账户中捐赠了30万美元，用于支持当地的民主党人。她的竞选团队向CNN证实了这一消息，并补充说她将在全州各地奔走，以提高中期选举的投票率。从本周末开始，她计划在布法罗、锡拉丘兹和伊萨卡等城市进行竞选活动——这些城市距离她位于皇后区和布朗克斯区的家乡选区较远，但也是进步派选民的聚集地。

目前，作为有史以来最年轻的国会女议员，奥卡西奥-科尔特斯表示，种族和性别是她考虑未来时最关心的问题，她也承认，在美国政坛公开谈论这两个问题可能不受欢迎。

她说，她能理解人们对两位民主党女总统候选人希拉里·克林顿和卡马拉·哈里斯落选以及她们在落选后所遭受的待遇感到“心碎”。

奥卡西奥-科尔特斯告诉《泰晤士报》：“我们政治文化中非常奇怪的一点是，不知为何，只要你提起性别问题，人们就会惊慌失措。仅仅是暗示性别可能发挥作用，他们就会变得如此具有防御性。”

奥卡西奥-科尔特斯承认，对于她下一步的政治行动，时机至关重要。

奥卡西奥-科尔特斯说：“有人认为这是一个非常独特的政治窗口，而且在政治中，机会往往只有一次。但事实并非如此——就像在生活中一样——生活不会等你做好准备。有时候，生活会主动为你创造机会。”