Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes decides against congressional campaign

Sarah Hughes, a former Olympic figure skating champion, has decided not to run for a congressional seat in her home state of New York after she initially said that she planned to launch a campaign. 

“For those interested, I have decided not to run for Congress at this time,” Hughes wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Friday. “Like many Americans, I have become increasingly frustrated with the state of our politics and politicians over the last several years.”

Hughes concluded in her social media thread that she will continue to advocate for issues and policies that matter to her. 

“I will continue to advocate for reducing healthcare costs, promoting the effective use of our tax dollars, and implementing pro-growth and innovative economic policies for our country,” Hughes added. 

The announcement comes months after she initially planned to run in her Long Island district as a Democrat challenger. 

Hughes planned to run in New York’s fourth district for a seat held by freshman Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) D’Esposito flipped the seat to Republicans last year after former Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) declined to run for another term.

Hughes, 38, gained resignation for winning a gold medal in figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Hughes, who spent three and a half years as a corporate associate for Manhattan based law firm Proskauer Rose LLP, is a graduate student at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.