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alexandria ocasio-cortez
'Next Step Is Primaries': Calls for Schumer Ouster After Leading Shutdown Surrender
"Until we elect Democrats that understand that fighting is what we need to do," US Senate primary candidate Graham Platner said, "we're going to find ourselves in this position over and over and over again."
Nov 10, 2025
One public opinion researcher said Sunday that there may be one positive aspect of the capitulation of eight Senate Democratic Caucus members—none of whom will face voters in a reelection campaign next year—who joined Republicans in voting to end the government shutdown without securing concessions on the central issue of healthcare.
"The only silver lining about this completely pointless, cowardly, and tone-deaf cave is that it’ll accelerate the complete overhaul of the leadership—and god willing, direction—of the Democratic Party," said Adam Carlson of Zenith Research.
To that end, progressive organizers and lawmakers on Monday morning said that with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) having reportedly coordinated the "yes" vote from the eight senators, voters must remove the lawmakers from office at their earliest opportunity.
"We want to celebrate a Democratic Party that fights back," said the grassroots group Indivisible. "But after this latest surrender, the next step is primaries and new leadership. We get the party we demand, and we intend to demand one that fights."
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— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) November 10, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Ezra Levin, co-founder of the organization, emphasized that anger should be directed not just at the eight Democrats who voted with Republicans on a cloture vote that paved the way to reopening the government without concessions from the GOP.
The eight senators were Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Angus King of Maine, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, but Levin said many more centrist lawmakers were likely "in on the play."
On MSNBC Monday, Shaheen acknowledged that Schumer was "kept informed" of the eight senators' negotiations with the GOP regarding reopening the government.
"It's the same reason why they scheduled the surrender for after the election this week," Levin said. "They didn't want people pissed at Democrats right before an election."
This isn’t just about the eight Senate Democrats who surrendered. 👇
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— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) November 10, 2025 at 8:35 AM
The elections last week, along with recent polls, revealed that the Republican Party and the White House are the target of ire from US voters, with President Donald Trump himself saying the Democratic victories showed the GOP would have to take action to end the shutdown.
New Republic writer Greg Sargent said that Schumer had given up crucial leverage by caving to the GOP's demand that the shutdown end and pushing senators to support a deal that contains no restoration of Medicaid funding gutted by the Republicans earlier this year, end to Trump's recissions that cut billions of dollars in public funding, or extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.
"You've changed the story from 'GOP hurting millions of Americans to please unpopular, failing, delusional despot who's destroying his party' to 'Dems are too weak and divided in the face of Trump's strength to take a stand and protect Americans,'" said Sargent, addressing Schumer on social media.
Attorney Max Kennerly suggested that the Sunday night vote revealed more than just the party's views on the current shutdown, and said Democrats who voted "no" should receive "zero credit until they demand a change in leadership."
"The coordinated nature of this—none [of the lawmakers who voted yes] are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate [minority] leader to stop it," said Kennerly.
Schumer, who is up for reelection in 2028, has topped the list of Democratic lawmakers who should face a primary challenge in recent months, following his refusal to endorse New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's campaign and his earlier capitulation to Republicans in March, when he supported a continuing resolution to keep the government funded even though to expanded Trump's control over congressional spending.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is reportedly considering either a 2028 presidential run or a primary challenge to Schumer, suggested the Democratic leader had abandoned the fight to ensure already-high healthcare costs don't rise for people who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace.
"People want us to hold the line for a reason," she said. "This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. Working people want leaders whose word means something."
“Chuck Schumer should step down as Senate minority leader immediately," said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution. "If he secretly backed this surrender and voted ‘no’ to save face, he’s a liar. If he couldn’t keep his caucus in line, he’s inept. Either way, he’s proven incapable of leading the fight to prevent healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans. The country can’t afford his failed leadership any longer.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said the cave provided the latest evidence that "Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced," and that "it's time for those in the back to make it to the front and for the old guard to make way."
“You’ve had Schumer cheerleading the Iraq War, cheerleading a blank check to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, betraying us on the first shutdown," Khanna told "Breaking Points" host Krystal Ball Monday. "This is the culmination of someone who just doesn't get it, who doesn't get how much people are hurting, doesn't get where the base of this party is."
Congressman @RoKhanna goes off on Chuck Schumer. “You’ve had Schumer cheerleading the Iraq War, cheerleading a blank check to Netanyahu, betraying us on the first shutdown…and now he’s not even willing to fight!” pic.twitter.com/TQxu3gcXBr
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) November 10, 2025
In Maine, US Senate candidate Graham Platner—who is facing Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) after Schumer pushed Mills to join the race—said millions of families had woken up to a "bleak morning" on Monday after the Democratic leader orchestrated the capitulation.
"Now, up the 20 million Americans are going to watch their healthcare premiums double, triple, and in some cases quadruple," said Platner. "Now we are on a path to watch 15 million Americans possibly lose access to healthcare insurance in the first place. This happened because Chuck Schumer failed in his job yet again, because they do not understand that when we fight, we win."
"We need to elect leaders that want to fight," he added, urging voters to call their senators and "tell them that Chuck Schumer can no longer be leader."
Chuck Schumer should step down. pic.twitter.com/6OhX2cCo9u
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) November 10, 2025
"Until we elect Democrats that understand that fighting is what we need to do," Platner said, "we're going to find ourselves in this position over and over and over again."
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Time to Flex: Lessons for Mamdani From My Time With AOC
You can’t change a system by sending one or two people into it and hoping for the best. You have to build and use political power to break the system’s ability to resist you.
Nov 07, 2025
Lots of elections happened on Tuesday. Most of them good news for 2026. There are signs that the MAGA fever is breaking. It’s important that whatever we work to replace it with comes from a place of understanding how we got here, and builds the power necessary to repair the damage.
The most hopeful and potentially transformative victory of the night was that of Zohran Mamdani. He won the New York City mayoral race with over 50% of the vote, beating Andrew Cuomo for a second time. The turnout was amazing. More than 2 million people voted.
And here’s what should terrify the Democratic establishment: Mamdani didn’t just win the city. He won decisively in Hakeem Jeffries’ district. He won in Ritchie Torres’ district. These guys are vulnerable as hell in a primary, and they know it.
But I’ve been here before. I was there for AOC’s first primary victory. I helped recruit her to run, helped build her campaign, and then worked as her advisor and communications director. I can tell you with absolute certainty: this is just the beginning. And if the movement around Mamdani doesn’t understand that and act accordingly, this opportunity will slip away like so many others have.
I’m hopeful. Mamdani’s victory is real and it’s important. But my experience tells me that without active, aggressive political power-building, it won’t translate into anything more tangible.
The difference this time is that Mamdani doesn’t have to be one person alone. He’s an executive running the country’s largest city, which gives him powers and capacity that one member of Congress - one out of 535 - could never have. And NY has primary elections coming in June 2026. Federal races, state assembly, state senate—all of it.
The Democratic establishment is already moving to contain him. Obama is reaching out. Bill Ackman is extending olive branches. And they’ll succeed unless the movement around him understands that winning the election was just the starting line.
The Power Problem We Had With AOC
We won in 2018. We proved a grassroots movement could build a political operation to recruit and elect a new type of Democrat. But here’s what we didn’t do: we didn’t immediately use that victory to build more power. We didn’t flex.
We won one seat. We celebrated. We staffed up. We tried to work within the system. And while we were doing that, the establishment built a wall around her. Seniority rules shut her out of real committee power. Leadership froze her out. The party used her as a boogeyman to fundraise off while refusing to even look at her agenda.
We were taught the wrong lesson: that getting people in office was the goal. That was the mistake. You can’t change a system by sending one or two people into it and hoping for the best. You have to build and use political power to break the system’s ability to resist you.
What Actually Flexing Power Looks Like
Imagine if, right now, while Mamdani is being sworn in, AOC was publicly exploring a run for governor against Kathy Hochul in 2026. Not “maybe someday.” Now. Publicly. With rallies. With Bernie Sanders. With pressure.
Imagine if the movement announced tomorrow that they’re running a primary challenger against Hakeem Jeffries. Not quietly. Publicly. With resources. With a candidate who can actually compete. Imagine if Former DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake, the challenger who announced he is running against Torres yesterday, gets backed by Mamdani this week.
Imagine if the entire energy and machinery that just won a mayoral race with 2 million voters doesn’t go dormant. Imagine if it stays active, visible, and aggressive. Imagine if the message to every Democrat in New York is crystal clear: if you block Mamdani’s agenda, you will be primaried. You will be challenged. You will lose your seat.
That’s flexing power. That’s what we didn’t do. That’s what has to happen now.
Governor Hochul has already announced she won’t support tax increases on the wealthy—the foundation of Mamdani’s entire agenda. Hakeem Jeffries gave him the most tepid endorsement imaginable. Ritchie Torres called him “treacherously smart” and warned he’d make New York “ground zero for anti-Zionism.”
These people aren’t confused. They’re opposed to him. And they’ll stop him cold unless they fear losing their jobs. Not theoretically. Actually.
The Easy Enemy and the Hard One
When you’re fighting MAGA, it’s simple. They wear red hats. They’re loud. You know exactly who they are.
The Democratic establishment is different. They seem like they’re on your side. They talk about the same values. They talk about “pragmatism” and being “confined by what’s possible.” There’s always an explanation for why they couldn’t deliver.
I spent years wanting to believe those explanations meant something. That they were potential allies who just needed the right pressure.
But I don’t believe it anymore. I think they know their role. I think they know they are barriers to change, and they’re comfortable with that role.
If democratic socialism is shown to be productive, transformational, and beneficial to the vast majority of New Yorkers, it will have reverberations across the entire country. This is the front line. And they know it.
What This Actually Takes
One person can’t change something this entrenched alone. One person—no matter how brilliant—cannot overcome a system designed to resist them.
During the New Deal, it took three election cycles to build a supermajority. It can happen again in 2026, 2028, 2030. That’s the timeline.
When you’re fighting MAGA, it’s simple. They wear red hats. They’re loud. You know exactly who they are. The Democratic establishment is different. They seem like they’re on your side.
While Mamdani is picking up the trash and making the city function, the movement around him has to be simultaneously primarying Jeffries, running challengers against Torres, recruiting state legislators. It means rallies. Visibility. Making clear political risk to every Democrat in the state who opposes his agenda.
Yes, the infrastructure is collapsing. Yes, construction in New York costs seven times what it costs anywhere else. Yes, the MTA has a $62 billion backlog. Those problems require competent governance. But none of it matters if Hochul and the State Legislature just block him. So while Mamdani’s team is fixing potholes, the movement has to be in the streets, at the rallies, primarying the people in the way.
Where We Go From Here
I’m hopeful. Mamdani’s victory is real and it’s important. But my experience tells me that without active, aggressive political power-building, it won’t translate into anything more tangible.
The impulse will be to work within the system. Staff the administration. Make government function. That has to happen. But it can’t be all that happens. You’ve got to be running a political revolution simultaneously. You’ve got to use your platform. You’ve got to make it clear that opposing this agenda has political consequences.
Because the last 10 months aren’t a departure from the norm. They’re the natural evolution of the past 50 years. And if we want something different, we have to build it. Fast. Visibly. With political risk and political courage.
The impulse will be to work within the system. Staff the administration. Make government function. That has to happen. But it can’t be all that happens.
Starting Monday, November 10, I’m publishing four weeks of essays, supported by a series of videos, laying out exactly what this looks like. Not theory. Actual strategy. Actual targets. Actual timelines.
Then, on Tuesday December 9 - International Anti-Corruption Day - I’ll launch a new initiative designed to reframe and refocus our collective efforts toward meaningful change.
This is the work. This is what it takes. Whether this becomes a moment of transformative power, or just another progressive mayor and a handful of individual candidates fighting alone, depends on what happens in the next six months.
We’re just getting warmed up.
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'Hope Is Alive!' Mamdani Victory in NYC Seen as Historic Turning Point
"If there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump. It is how we stop the next one."
Nov 05, 2025
Zohran Mamdani was elected the next mayor of New York City on Tuesday in a victory he and his supporters say reflects the hope of a city—and a nation—ready for a new kind of politics that puts the needs of working people at the center after decades of failed leadership that put corporate interests and the desires of the wealthiest first.
Withstanding a barrage of negative ads and fearmongering by the city's elite, the democratic socialist candidate secured 50.4 percent of the vote in a three-way race that saw disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mandani, nab 41.6 percent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa just over 7 percent.
"Hope is alive," declared Mamdani in his victory speech from the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn after most major networks called the victory his shortly after 9:30 pm local time.
"While we cast our ballots alone, we chose hope together," said Mamdani. "Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible. And we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do."
"This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt." —Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly who ran a campaign focused on making life more affordable for the workers who make the nation's largest city run and thrive, said that while the campaign's unifying and inspiring spirit meant his supporters could express a collective sigh of relief after the election day win, the hard work will now be making that shared vision for the city become a reality.
"This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt," he said. "Central to that vision will be the most ambitious agenda to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that this city has seen since the days of Fiorello La Guardia: an agenda that will freeze the rents for more than two million rent-stabilized tenants, make buses fast and free, and deliver universal child care across our city."
"Years from now, may our only regret be that this day took so long to come," he added. "This new age will be one of relentless improvement."
As progressives and Democrats nationwide took the victory in New York City as a sign of what a populist campaign focused on the needs of working people can accomplish, Mamdani also spoke to the underlying theme of Tuesday's elections across the country, where Democrats claimed major wins in various competitive races and ballot initiatives—outcomes seen as a resounding rebuke to President Donald Trump's scorched-earth second term.
"If we embrace this brave new course rather than fleeing from it," said Mamdani, "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him." pic.twitter.com/mvGcsN01Xt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 5, 2025
"If there is any way to terrify a despot," he added, "it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump. It is how we stop the next one."
That dynamic was front and center for many who heralded Mamdani's win as historic and called for the Democratic Party leadership to embrace his vision on economic issues and a more populist style of politics to displace the corporate stranglehold on the party.
Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, called Mamdani's victory "the turning point in this Democratic Party that our movement has been working towards for years: electing leaders with the moral courage to unite our voters to take on Republican authoritarianism, Democratic corporatism, and billionaire greed all at once."
"Zohran Mamdani has never backed down from standing up to Trump and the forces that threaten our democracy,” said Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, a pro-democracy advocacy group focused on the climate crisis. “This is the leadership our democracy, and the Democratic Party, needs to rebuild trust with working people and fight for a future that works for everyone."
Michael Magazine, a campaigner with the group's local NYC affiliate, echoed that sentiment. "Tonight, the people of New York City showed up in force and reminded the world that grassroots power can beat big money," he said. "This is more than a win for Zohran. It’s a win for the movement and for democracy itself. We’ve proven that a bold, people-powered vision can overcome the status quo, and this is just the beginning."
"The oligarchy came out in full force against Zohran Mamdani's fight for a more affordable NYC," said former labor secretary Robert Reich following Tuesday night's victory. "It didn't matter. Let his victory in the face of Big Money serve as a reminder that people have the power."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who proudly endorsed Mamdani, also championed the win.
"Starting at 1% in the polls," said Sander, "Mamdani pulled off one of the great political upsets in modern American history. Yes. We CAN create a government that represents working people and not the 1%."
And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of Mamdani's most prominent backers in the race, also heralded his victory as a major turning point, not just for New York City, but for the party.
In her remarks to MSNBC shortly after Mamdani's victory was declared, the New York Democrat said the campaign and the "heroic effort" of its supporters was not only a fight against Trump and Republican destruction but also a battle against the Democratic Party's "old guard," which "essentially led us to many of the perils of this moment."
Mamdani, she explained, "how a two-front war to win, which is what makes his win so deeply impressive" in a broader political context that should be a wakeup call for those in the party resisting the kind of policies and politics that his campaign championed and exemplified.
"We have a future to plan for. We have a future to fight for," Ocasio-Cortez said of the party from now on. "And we're either gonna do that together, or you're gonna be left behind."
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