After she was first elected to the House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez allowed her membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to lapse. But now, with the DSA’s recent electoral successes across the country generating new clout within the Democratic Party, the New York lawmaker has thrown her hat in the ring once again, with her eyes possibly fixed on higher office.

This week, the national DSA confirmed to its own members that Ocasio-Cortez, who is a member of the Democratic Party, had once again become a “member in good standing” of the socialist organization.  

“Previously, the representative joined DSA in 2018 with a one-year membership, which DSA’s national leadership recently noticed had lapsed, in 2019. She has since renewed her membership as of this month,” the DSA wrote in a message to its members. 

Ocasio-Cortez's relationship with the DSA has been complicated. She has been a fixture of the New York City chapter, by far the organization's largest and most influential branch, even as her membership in the national organization lapsed. Since 2024, Ocasio-Cortez has been endorsed by NYC-DSA, but not the national organization, according to City & State New York, which first reported her renewed membership. 

The national DSA said it only became aware of the seven-year lapse after Ocasio-Cortez described herself publicly as a member of the New York City chapter specifically, rather than the national organization, a distinction that prompted national leadership to review her status internally.

Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to formally rejoin the organization comes as its members wage an internal struggle over whether to endorse the lawmaker as its preferred presidential candidate in the fast-approaching Democratic primary. The New York chapter is reportedly at the forefront of efforts to push the wider organization to back her. 

On Wednesday, NYC-DSA posted a photo of its leadership–chapter co-chairs Grace Mausser, Gustavo Gordillo and Jeremy Cohan–alongside Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. “While we get ready to send a whole new generation of socialists to Congress, NYC-DSA co-chairs & leaders caught up with our first socialist in federal office: @AOC. Democratic socialism is the future,” NYC-DSA posted to X. 

However, the DSA at large has become intensely divided over Ocasio-Cortez’s suitability as the organization’s flag bearer in the Democratic primary. 

For example, the DSA’s Liberation Caucus, a Maoist faction of the group, last week “condemn[ed] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's continued retreat from socialist politics and rejects any effort to present her as the future presidential standard-bearer for DSA …” Just the News reported. 

The group specifically cited the lawmakers' vote for a bill that defended Israel's right to exist and for meeting with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “In short, it was determined that she had failed to meet conditions concerning Palestine solidarity,” the Liberation Caucus said. 

The national DSA itself withdrew its standing endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez last year for failing to vote to block $500 million in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system while praising Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a DSA member, who voted to do so. 

But, as the DSA has vaulted itself into national prominence, first by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s blockbuster campaign to win New York City’s mayor’s office and then by the organization’s unprecedented success in congressional primaries across the country, many of its leaders have mulled rehabilitating Ocasio-Cortez, seeing her as the group’s best chance to back a presidential candidate. 

At the DSA’s national convention last month in Chicago, its members debated whether the organization should formally endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in 2028, with Ocasio-Cortez's name circulating as the likeliest beneficiary, The Washington Post reported.  

DSA's national leadership remains divided on the question, and the organization does not plan to begin a formal presidential endorsement process until early next year, leaving months of internal debate ahead before any commitment is made.

That divide reflects a broader tension in the relationship: Ocasio-Cortez has shown little appetite for embracing DSA's more sweeping structural positions. Pressed by reporters last month on the organization's push to abolish the U.S. Senate, she distanced herself from the proposal, calling it “a constitutional question” and arguing the chamber needs substantial reform rather than elimination. 

Asked directly whether she was angling for any endorsement, she told reporters she wasn't currently running for any office. “I could run for dog catcher. So I think any situation is hypothetical,” she said.  

Still, DSA's national profile has grown considerably over the past year, buoyed in large part by Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral race, which drew an influx of volunteers and national attention to the organization's electoral machine. 

Democratic Party leadership, initially resistant, ultimately endorsed Mamdani after his win, even as national Democrats spent much of 2026 working to blunt the momentum of similarly DSA-aligned candidates in races elsewhere. 

That expanding footprint, paired with a string of primary wins by DSA-backed candidates in several House districts, has raised the organization's profile within Democratic politics heading into the midterms. 

Bolstered by the primary successes, the DSA went on a media blitz to share their vision for America. The group has not been shy about its radical vision, which includes policies like abolishing the senate, heavily restricting private markets, and abolishing police and prisons. 

Establishment Democrats have sounded the alarm, warning that the DSA’s growing prominence within the party and policy proposals could spell electoral disaster. Democratic leaders have specifically accused DSA-affiliated candidates of exploiting the party’s ballot access to boost its own candidates at the expense of traditional Democrats, Just the News previously reported.