Scoop: AOC shakes up team ahead of 2028 decision

Rep.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is shaking up her team with several departures and new aides, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: The personnel changes come months before the progressive leader will decide whether to launch a presidential campaign.

She's also weighing a run for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's seat, which is also up in 2028.

Driving the news: Ocasio Cortez's years-long campaign manager and senior adviser Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben is departing in September, two people familiar with the matter told Axios.

Fiorella Bini, a longtime aide to AOC, took over as interim campaign manager this month.

Aya Saed, Ocasio-Cortez's former legislative director, returned to her operation this spring as a deputy chief of staff in her House office and an adviser to her campaign.

At the same time, Tanushri Shankar-Ross, who left AOC's team in 2023, has come back as a senior adviser, Puck first reported.

AOC's creative director Tyler Evans, who had been with her since 2021 — sometimes in a freelance role — also left this summer, according to his LinkedIn page.

The intrigue: The moves have coincided with the expansion of the portfolio of AOC's chief of staff, Mike Casca, people familiar with her operation said.

Casca, 37, was senior communications adviser for Sen.

Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, and then deputy chief of staff in Sanders' Senate office before joining Ocasio-Cortez's team in late 2023.

The big picture: Ocasio-Cortez has a small, tight-knit team that's relatively young compared to the teams of other potential 2028 presidential candidates.

But she is close to Sanders and can tap into some of his political infrastructure if she wants to quickly ramp up to a presidential or Senate campaign operation.