![Former Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said Tuesday on Fox & Friends that if Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenges Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, it could mean a Republican victory in the general election. [Screenshot Fox & Friends]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-11.11.46-AM-e1680621701994.png "Former Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said Tuesday on Fox & Friends that if Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenges Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, it could mean a Republican victory in the general election. [Screenshot Fox & Friends]")
Former Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” that if Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenges Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, it could mean a Republican victory in the general election.
Gillibrand is up for re-election in 2024 and Ocasio-Cortez recently hinted that she would potentially be in a “higher office” someday.
“There’s a world where I’m here for a long time in this seat, in this position. There’s a world where I’m not an elected official anymore. There’s a world where … I may be in higher office,” Ocasio-Cortez told Politico.
Zeldin said he believes Ocasio-Cortez could win the Democratic primary and would likely raise a lot of money.
“If she decides to pull the trigger on a race like this, I think she would be a very strong candidate against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand,” Zeldin said.
“Who doesn’t do anything, just is invisible,” host Brian Kilmeade chimed in. “How will that affect whether you decide to run or not and are you considering it?” (RELATED: ‘Libs Of TikTok’ Bumps Into Ocasio-Cortez Minutes After Filing Ethics Complaint Against Her)
“No, Kirsten Gillibrand has kind of been wishing this into existence,” Zeldin said. “Mentioning my name in media interview and fundraising emails, it’s not anything I was thinking about but the more she keeps mentioning my name, the more I have to keep answering questions about it, you know, I’m wondering maybe as we go forward, listen, if AOC gets into this race, while I say she will be a more competitive Democratic Party primary candidate, if she was to win a primary, she is a more deeply flawed general election opponent.”
“This race will be shifting in the Republicans’ favor if AOC gets into the race. It is something that potentially we might look at but at this point we will have to see how the race shapes up.”
Zeldin lost to Democrat incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in November, though at one point having pulled ahead of her in a Trafalgar Group poll.