Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will not, at least for now, run for the U.S. Senate seat held by fellow New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who is seeking another term next year.
“She is not planning to run for Senate in 2024. She is not planning to primary Gillibrand,” a spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez told Politico on Sunday.
Gillibrand announced her reelection bid in January. She was first appointed as New York’s junior Senator in 2009, filling the seat left vacant by Hillary Clinton. She won a 2010 special election to keep that seat and was reelected to full terms in 2012 and 2018.
The 56-year-old senator’s reelection campaign announcement comes as Democrats are trying to mitigate their 2022 midterm losses in the Empire State, traditionally considered a blue stronghold. Although Republicans fell short of toppling Gov. Kathy Hochul by a single-digit margin, they successfully flipped four congressional seats, including one held by Sean Patrick Maloney, the head of the House Democrats’ campaign arm. The loss of those seats to Republicans is widely blamed for the party’s failure to maintain a majority in the House….