Lara Trump declined Tuesday to explicitly rule out running for Congress after a poll took a look at her chances in next year’s race for New York’s 2nd District.
“I am not running for Congress. I am solely dedicated right now to making sure the president is reelected in 2020,” Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a senior adviser to his reelection campaign, said at Politico’s Women Rule summit Tuesday.
“I would say, listen, you can’t rule anything out, you never know what could happen,” she added. “I am currently not running for Congress.”
The remarks came after a poll conducted by the conservative Club For Growth and obtained exclusively by Breitbart reported that Trump would lead a GOP primary to replace New York Rep. Peter King (R), who is retiring.
Trump polls at 53 percent, with former Rep. Rick Lazio coming in at just 19 percent. Another 28 percent of voters in the survey are undecided.
Trump said at Tuesday’s event that the poll was the first time she heard that people were floating her name to replace King.
“I don’t live in that district, but I’m truly honored that anyone would consider me,” she said.
Republicans are eager to keep King’s seat in the fold as the district becomes increasingly competitive. He won reelection in 2016 by more than 24 points, but in 2018, his margin had dropped to six points.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the House race as “Lean Republican.”
In February, King was among the GOP lawmakers on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) “retirements to watch list” of potential targets ahead of the 2020 election cycle.
The group has vowed to continue contesting the race, saying they would relish the chance to take on Lara Trump.
“King’s retirement has made Republicans desperate to find a recruit in this district,” DCCC spokesperson Christine Bennett said in a statement after the poll’s release. “If they think putting an out-of-district and out-of-touch candidate up is the answer, we won’t complain.”