Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for reelection in Bronx, Queens district — won’t seek Kirsten Gillibrand’s Senate seat

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez plans to seek re-election to her House seat in 2024, her spokeswoman said Tuesday, quashing talk she might run for the Senate.

Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive firebrand whose district spans parts of the Bronx and Queens, does not plan what would have been a blockbuster primary challenge against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is expected to run for re-election, said the spokeswoman, Lauren Hitt.

Gillibrand has already said she plans to run for a third full six-year term representing the Empire State.

She has no announced challenger and is a strong favorite to win reelection in deep-blue New York, especially in a presidential election year when Democratic turnout tends to be strong.

Ocasio-Cortez is perhaps the most outspoken progressive in the House and has forged the so-called “Squad” of young women of color in the lower chamber.

Republican gerrymandering efforts have created more deep-blue seats in Democratic cities nationwide, opening paths to more lawmakers who share her leftist views.

But there is no immediate political path forward for Ocasio-Cortez.

She passed up a run against Sen. Chuck Schumer, the powerful majority leader, last year.

Now Ocasio-Cortez looks set to skip a battle against Gillibrand, a former upstate congresswoman. Gillibrand could be more vulnerable to a challenge because she was once known as a moderate lawmaker and is less well known despite mounting a short-lived presidential bid.