The clearest sign yet that progressive darling AOC has White House ambitions
The millennial New York Democrat has even raised more cash than Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Trump's closest ally in Congress and the third in line to the presidency.
AOC, 35, has received a whopping $15.4 million dollars this year in donations, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show.
Johnson has raised about half of that for his personal campaign, around $8.7 million, according to FEC filings.
There's been wide speculation that she is amassing a major war chest to launch a bid for Senate or even the White House in 2028.
Prediction sites have placed the New York Democrat among the most likely to run for the presidency next election. And the markets think she could even win her party's nomination.
AOC has a 15 percent chance of securing the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, according to Kalshi, only California Gov. Gavin Newsom has higher odds at 20 percent.
Her prospects and popularity have skyrocketed as she has toured the country and pushed back loudly against the Trump administration both in Congress and online.
'She is trading on her national profile to go where the dollars are,' Jacob Neiheisel, a political professor at the University of Buffalo, recently told the New York Post.
'It's become incredibly easy to pull dollars from all across the country,' he added.
Earlier this year she toured the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont from February until June where they regularly filled out stadiums, spectacles akin to rallies hosted by President Donald Trump.
Their 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour pulled in well over 100,000 attendees across a dozen states.
'In Q2, AOC raised $5.8m from over 161,000 individual donors and an average donation of just $17,' her campaign manager Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben, posted earlier this month. 'In 2025, over 342,000 individual donors have donated to the campaign with only four who have gave the max amount.'
'AOC is one of the few candidates to take zero corporate pac or lobbyist money,' he shared. 'We are 100% grassroots funded.'
Many of her small dollar contributions come from outside her district in Queens. According to FEC filings, the majority of her funding comes from California.
'People willing to call out [President] Trump's corruption and Washington Republicans' extremism the loudest definitely attract the most attention and dollars,' John Lapp, former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told the Wall Street Journal.
The most 'provocative stars in the Democratic party' will raise the most money, he said.
AOC has stepped into the spotlight that Sanders used to occupy in his previous presidential campaigns, a champion for the working class.
She is easily one of the most, if not the most, identifiable progressives in the entire party.
Her frequent attacks aimed at Trump admin officials online, where she denounces their actions on immigration, tariffs, healthcare and virtually every other policy area, have also been a crucial point of resistance for the Democrats.
Trump himself frequently bashes her on his Truth Social app - a badge of honor among Democrats these days - and AOC's accolades are stacking up fast.
'Stupid AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the 'dumbest' people in Congress, is now calling for my Impeachment, despite the fact that the Crooked and Corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before,' the president wrote last month.
'Mr. President, don't take your anger out on me — I'm just a silly girl,' AOC wrote back.
'Take it out on whoever convinced you to betray the American people and our Constitution by illegally bombing Iran and dragging us into war. It only took you 5 months to break almost every promise you made.'
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