Rice announces she is not running again

                                                                                  


As you can see, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice of Garden City announced today that she is not running again.

She is yet another Democrat from the U.S. House who is giving up their seat -- 30 altogether so far.

Kathleen Rice

Not sure why.

Pundits instantly speculated that she would face tough challenges from left- wing progressives and right-wing conservatives.

Some suggest she is seeking a judgeship or a state appointment. 

Maybe Rice, a former Nassau District Attorney, is even thinking about challenging State Attorney General Tish James for re-election this year in a deal with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to fund her campaign.  Cuomo reportedly is looking for someone to take out James, who took out Cuomo with allegations of sexual harassment. Cuomo, who resigned in August, denies the allegations.

Redistricting has not affected Rice's district that much, so it's doubtful that spurred her decision.

The talk in political circles has always been that Rice  never liked Washington, DC and was looking for a way to come back to New York. Just Like U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi who is giving up his Congressional seat to run a primary for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Rice initially ran afoul of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by voting against Pelosi's re-election to the House top spot, but her fortunes appeared to look up when Democratic Joe Biden won the White House.

For a while in 2020, it looked like she might challenge Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin for re-election because she was attacking him at every turn about his spending of federal cares act money, but she  soon stopped the bombardment.

At the time the speculation was that if she did not run again, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky from Long Beach would run for her seat, while Assemb. Judy Griffin of Rockville Centre,would run for Kaminsky's seat and then former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen would run for Griffin's seat.

But boy has that speculation grown old.

A red wave rolled over Long Island last year and Democrat Kaminsky lost his bid for Nassau District Attorney to Republican Anne Donnelly. People are wondering if he will even run for state senate again. 

Meanwhile Democrats are scrambling because Rice announced so late-- without giving them a heads up. They need to  find a new candidate by the end of this month.

Names thrown out on first speculation were Legis. Kevan Abrahams, minority leader of the Nassau legislature, who primaried Rice unsuccessfully in the past for the seat, and Siela Bynoe, a Democratic legislator from Westbury.

Some Republicans suggest that former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat who lost her bid for re-election in November, will run for Rice's seat. But Curran pretty much killed her immediate political fortunes by essentially calling Biden senile on Fox News. 

Gillen also allegedly has expressed interest along with Nassau Legis. Carrie Solages (D-Lawrence).


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