Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Not Planning to Run for Senate Seat in 2024

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Clears Path for Gillibrand’s Senate Reelection Campaign

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive Democratic congresswoman from New York, has stated that she plans not to run for a Senate seat in 2024. This clears the way for the incumbent New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, also a Democrat, to run for re-election without opposition from Ocasio-Cortez.

The announcement from Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesperson, Lauren Hitt, follows indications from other New York progressives, including Mondaire Jones and representatives Jamaal Bowman and Ritchie Torres, that they are also not considering a challenge to Gillibrand.

Avoiding an acrimonious challenge from the party’s progressive wing is considered a political priority for Democrats, who were hit hard in the midterm elections last year. The loss of four seats to Republican candidates is widely blamed for the party losing control of Congress. Democrats are now focusing on recovering these losses in the upcoming 2022 elections.

Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York Democratic party, told Politico that he considers a challenge to be “divisive unnecessarily” unless there is a strong likelihood of winning. He emphasized that resources should be preserved for more coordinated work.

BREAKING: AOC's office announces she will NOT challenge Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate.

Instead, AOC will help Dems take back the House from MAGA Republicans in 2024.

AOC's got our back.🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/pFFuQkAK2X

— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) April 30, 2023

Camille Rivera, a New York-based progressive strategist, also warned that an intra-Democrat contest “could be pretty bruising and give a Republican a leg up.”

Rumors of a Senate seat challenge by Ocasio-Cortez began circulating last year, but signs of a deal between her and Gillibrand have now emerged. Gillibrand has faced criticism for her role in forcing former senator Al Franken’s resignation, as well as for accepting donations from indicted crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried and for her ties to Wall Street.

With Ocasio-Cortez out of the race, Gillibrand can now focus on her re-election campaign without the distraction of a primary challenge from within her own party.