U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) “is leaning heavily against challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in next year’s primary, according to several prominent New York pols who have spoken with her in recent days,” Glenn Thrush reports.
“She told me she probably wasn’t going to do it,” said one New Yorker who has been in contact with the Manhattan Democrat.
Sources cautioned that the mercurial Maloney — reportedly incensed by the efforts of the White House and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) to force her out of the race — hasn’t made a final decision.
This comes as the New York Times reports today that “Democratic Party elders have worked overtime to keep Kirsten E. Gillibrand, New York’s appointed junior senator, from facing any serious threat in a 2010 primary.”
They note that the Democratic “desire to eliminate democratic competition is especially striking because not a single voter has had a chance to pass judgment on whether she belongs in the United States Senate.”
It’s not just that she was appointed. The man who named her, Gov. David A. Paterson, was not elected to his own office. It’s a double whammy, intensified for some New Yorkers by Ms. Gillibrand’s — how to put it — demonstrated flexibility on certain core issues.
“What’s the point of a Democratic primary if we don’t use that process?” said Liz J. Abzug, a political consultant who supports Ms. Maloney and has opposed those trying to keep the congresswoman out of the running.
Congress in Your Pocket
