Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photo: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) plans to run for reelection in 2024 rather than mounting a primary challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), her spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: One of the highest-profile members of Congress, the 33-year-old member of the progressive “Squad” has perennially been looked to as a potential candidate for higher office.
What they’re saying: Ocasio-Cortez is “not planning to” challenge Gillibrand and is “planning to run for re-election” to her Bronx and Queens-based House seat, her communications director Lauren Hitt told Axios.
- Her decision not to challenge Gillibrand, first reported by Politico, means the former presidential candidate can likely breathe a sigh of relief as she gears up to run for a third full term in the Senate.
- Ocasio-Cortez, shortly after the 2020 election, told the New York Times of a potential Senate run: “I genuinely don’t know. I don’t even know if I want to be in politics. You know, for real, in the first six months of my term, I didn’t even know if I was going to run for re-election this year.”
The backdrop: A centrist when she was a swing-seat House member, Gillibrand has emerged as a progressive stalwart on women’s issues in the Senate, most recently spearheading an effort to include paid family leave in the Build Back Better Act.
- Some on the left have argued that she is not as visible and outspoken as they would hope for a senator from the powerful Empire State, fueling rumors about a potential primary challenge.
- Ocasio-Cortez was similarly seen as a potential challenger to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) last cycle, but she passed on that race as well and he faced no primary challenge.