AOC’s appeal among young voters around the country is losing some of its shine – even as socialists score wins across the country and she climbs in a crucial presidential battleground.
A CNN/SSRS poll released Thursday revealed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 36, one of the original “Squad” members, is having trouble keeping her appeal among the young.
Only 28% of voters in the 18-34 bracket give her a favorable rating.
Her numbers are worse among politically vital independents, where she scores just 22%, according to data reported by Puck News.
Her overall approval rating is 26%, compared to 36% who have an unfavorable view of her – leaving her 10 points underwater.
Back in January, her favorable rating was slightly higher at 27%, while her unfavorable rating was at 32%.
By comparison, her New York comrade Mayor Mamdani enjoys a slightly better 30% favorable opinion, compared to 35% who have an unfavorable opinion of him.
The national reality check comes days after a new University of New Hampshire poll had her leading the Democratic field in the early primary state – with 22% support.
She was followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (21%) and Sen. Mark Kelly (9%).
Buttigieg came in second to AOC’s democratic socialist mentor, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), in 2020. Sanders defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton there four years earlier, while ultimately losing the nomination both times.
“She’s a brand. She’s far more than a House member,” said Dante Scala, a professor of political science at UNH. “Who knows what her plans are, but right now she’s set up to be the successor to Bernie Sanders.”
Nationally, according to the CNN poll, AOC’s favorable rating trails the Republican Party (31%) and the Democratic Party (30%), although she is more popular than the Democratic Socialists of America, which gets just 18% favorability despite scoring key election wins in New York, Colorado, and other states.
Just 25% of men have a favorable view of her, compared to 27% of women, 25% of whites.
She gets 36% favorable support from white college grads, and 63% of liberals, but only 22% of independents have a favorable view of her, compared to 56% of Democrats.
The DSA’s new platform, which calls for abolishing the Senate and defunding the Pentagon, has drawn pushback from other Democrats in New York and elsewhere.
The same poll showed about a third of Democrats and Democrat-leaners now identify as democratic socialists.
New Hampshire for decades has had an outsized role in the nominating process, although a Democratic National Committee panel voted late last month to have South Carolina, which has a more racially diverse electorate, go first.
AOC’s 22% support in that poll climbed from 15% in Februrary and 14% in October 2025.
But her road to the White House is far from set, as she ponders whether to challenge Sen. Charles Schumer, 75, in 2028.
She trailed former VP Kamala Harris (26%), California Gov. Gavin Newsom (20%), and Buttigieg (10%) in a national Morning Consult poll released last week.
