Democrats Reportedly Beg AOC to ‘Stay Away’ in Swing-States: ‘The Polling Is Atrocious’

(Photo by: Marijan Murat/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Democratic candidates to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): Thanks, but no thanks.

A number of swing-state Democrats have been telling AOC to “stay away,” according to a Sunday report from Axios, which said candidates are worried about the New York progressive sabotaging their chances of winning.

“The polling is atrocious for her,” a top Democratic strategist told the outlet. “She’s a lightening rod.”

Even Dems who previously welcomed Ocasio-Cortez to campaign on their behalf are now trying to keep her away. House candidate Sam Forstag (D) “suggested” he didn’t want AOC to campaign for him in Montana, only months after she flew to the state to stump for him in the rain, according to the report.

“I don’t intend to be having a lot of folks from out of state campaigning with me over these next 40 days,” he told Axios when asked about AOC coming back to help him some more.

He even scrubbed AOC’s endorsement from his website, just to be extra safe.

Sunday’s report comes after AOC has endorsed several candidates heading into the November midterms, including Senate hopefuls Abdul El-Sayed (D) in Michigan and socialist Angie Nixon (D) in Florida.

Ocasio-Cortez has attempted to walk back some of her more controversial stances in recent months, like when she shrugged off endorsing abolishing prisons and defunding the police by declaring “Woke 1 was crazy!”

She explained to ABC’s Jonathan Karl the Covid-19 lockdowns made everyone a bit kooky and willing to humor extreme ideas — but those shouldn’t be held against Democratic candidates in 2026, she said.

As for the midterms, Cook Political Report founder Charlie Cook declared on Sunday it was a “done deal” — the Dems are going to take back the House. Cook projected the Democrats will gain 20 seats in the House and could possibly flip the Senate as well during an interview on ABC’s This Week.

He said his bullish prediction was based mostly on voters being upset with President Donald Trump, rather than being attracted to what Democrats are offering.

“It isn’t pro-Democrat,” Cook said. “It’s anti-Trump, basically, and Republicans that have been supportive of the president.”

Swing-state Dems sound like they want to keep the focus on the president, and not AOC, heading into the elections.

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