Chelsea Clinton Denies Run for Nadler’s Seat

Chelsea Clinton's team is denying reports that she plans to enter the race to replace retiring New York Rep. Jerry Nadler as Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg considers a run.

A spokesperson for the 45-year-old daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told USA TODAY in a statement Sept. 3 that she is "not considering a run." The comments come two days after Nadler, 78, announced he would vacate his seat.

Clinton has previously passed on the chance to follow in her parents' footsteps. During an October 2019 appearance on "The View," Clinton told the panel that she was "not considering running" to replace former Rep. Nita Lowey in a separate New York district.

In recent years, Clinton – once an NBC correspondent in the same vein as fellow former first kid Jenna Bush Hager – has instead focused on global health advocacy and authoring books, with and without her mom.

Meanwhile, Schlossberg – the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy – is considering a run in the 12th congressional district which includes parts of New York City.

Schlossberg, a 32-year-old social media influencer who is the son of Caroline Kennedy, told The New York Times on Tuesday, Sept. 2, that his candidacy was "certainly a possibility."

He would be the first Kennedy family member to run for Congress since Joe Kennedy III left his U.S. House seat in Massachusetts to launch a primary challenge to progressive Sen. Ed Markey before losing the race in 2020.

The ex-Federal Trade Commissioner Lina Khan, a past appointee of former President Joe Biden, passed on the chance to succeed Nadler during "The Bulwark Podcast" with Tim Miller on Sept. 3.

Nadler, the long-serving congressman, praised his former aide and state assemblyman Micah Lasher but stopped short of supporting him.

"I'm very fond of Micah and I think highly of him," Nadler said in a statement to The Times. "But any decision about endorsing a successor is way down the road."

Nadler – the influential former chair of the House Judiciary Committee – garnered national attention when he helped lead impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House.

“For more than 32 years, I have had the honor of serving the people of New York in the United States Congress," Nadler said. "This decision has not been easy. But I know in my heart it is the right one and that it is the right time to pass the torch to a new generation."

"Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that," Nadler told the New York Times.