Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is fast becoming a central figurehead in the 2026 midterm election cycle, and a polarizing one at that.Some moderate candidates are shunning the progressive rising star's endorsement, Axios reported this week, while others in tight races are welcoming her with open arms.Several Democratic strategists who spoke with Fox News Digital said they were not shocked that some on the left are keeping her at arm's length."It wasn't especially surprising, like, her numbers with independent voters aren't always great, and it's very circumstantial depending upon where you would want to deploy somebody with that type of background and somebody who, you know, a lot of Americans have an impression of already — sometimes positive, sometimes negative," Mike Nellis, a former political advisor for ex-Vice President Kamala Harris, told Fox News Digital.
"I always just encourage people, like, you do what you gotta do, cause it's hard to play coalition politics."DEMOCRAT CHALLENGING MIKE LAWLER WON'T COMMIT ON CAMPAIGNING WITH AOC, MAMDANI OR REJECTING DSARep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as a leading figure on the left and a potential contender in the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential conversation.
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)And there are at least two candidates who appear to think the original "Squad" member is more of a liability.HASAN PIKER SAYS HE’D ‘ABSOLUTELY’ CAMPAIGN FOR AOC IN 2028 AS EL-SAYED DISTANCES HIMSELFCait Conley, who is running to unseat Rep.Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in a district nearby Ocasio-Cortez's, told CNN's State of the Union "I'm good" when asked if she would campaign with Democratic socialists like her or New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Conley's campaign did not return a request for comment by Fox News Digital by publication time.And Sam Forstag in Montana reportedly removed all mention of Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement from his campaign website.
He told Axios, "I don't intend to be having a lot of folks f...