AOC 'Not Planning' to Challenge Gillibrand

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., "is not planning" a primary challenge against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in 2024, joining other potential candidates who have also decided to sit out the next primary election for the Senate seat.

"She is not planning to run for Senate in 2024. She is not planning to primary Gillibrand," Lauren Hitt, Ocasio-Cortez's spokesperson, confirmed to Politico.

Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Ritchie Torres of New York also told Politico they are not interested in the race. Former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., has decided against running for the seat after he privately considered running, a person familiar with his plans said.

Nobody is challenging Gillibrand because she has represented her state well, Isaac Goldberg, a New York Democratic consultant said.

"There's no energy right now to go after someone who spends her time protecting the right to choose; fighting for paid leave, family leave, workers' rights, and a green economy; and everything else Democrats in this state value," Goldberg said.

Ocasio-Cortez can always change her mind — she's saying she's not planning to run, rather than definitively ruling it out — but her statement is the strongest to date against that option, noted Politico.

Allies and supporters said Gillibrand maintains contacts with several potential challengers. For example, she had lunch with Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff in January in the Senate Dining Room.

Many Democrats are also saying they want to avoid a divisive primary to focus on recovering the four House seats that flipped to Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections, and to protect members like Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y.

There also aren't any plans in the Working Families Party, a liberal group, to challenge Gillibrand, said a representative, as 2024 will be vital for Democrats to retake Congress.

Meanwhile, Gillibrand spokesperson Evan Lukaske said she is "excited to run on her record of delivering for New York families."

This includes agenda items such as "making gun trafficking a federal crime to securing health benefits for 9/11 survivors to bringing home hundreds of millions of dollars for projects that will boost the economy. Sen. Gillibrand has consistently gotten real results."