Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a household name since her stunning primary win last summer, but her popularity has not kept up with her newfound fame.
In September, just after she burst onto the national stage by ousting ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th district, about half of American adults either did not recognize Ocasio-Cortez’s name or had no opinion of her, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. By this month, only 29 percent said the same.
In the interim, as the number of Americans forming opinions about the 29-year-old lawmaker has grown, her net-favorability ratings have declined. Where in September 24 percent of respondents viewed her favorably and 26 percent viewed her unfavorably, today 31 percent view her favorably and 41 percent view her unfavorably.
It remains to be seen whether the drop in net favorability will affect Ocasio-Cortez’s ambitious policy goals, including her Green New Deal plan to address climate change. The plan has excited the Democratic grassroots, but it has also been derided by many as unrealistic. President Trump has panned the plan as socialist and compared it to a “high school term paper that got a low mark,” while Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called it a “green dream.”