WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is looking at Troy, New York, as a potential base for a 2020 presidential bid, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.
They cautioned that the decision was not yet final and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Gillibrand’s team eyeing Troy, which is 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Manhattan, is the strongest signal yet that the New York senator will soon enter the presidential race.
Gillibrand, who grew up in the Albany area, attended an all-girls high school in Troy before attending Dartmouth University.
Her representatives didn’t comment Thursday on her choice of headquarters.
If Gillibrand enters the race, she will join what is expected to be a historically large field, and one that could include many of her Senate colleagues. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has already formed an exploratory committee and is moving quickly with trips across the landscape of early primary states. Other members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus, including California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, are all weighing their own presidential bids and are expected to announce decisions in the upcoming weeks.
Several Democrats, including billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, have declined to run in 2020.
Gillibrand easily won re-election to her Senate seat in 2018 with more than $10.6 million in campaign money left over that she could funnel toward a presidential bid. In recent weeks, she has worked to expand her fundraising network and to improve her standing among critical voting blocs, including African-American voters.
