Contrary to her earlier statements, former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton says she is considering running for public office but she’d only do it if someone “steps down or retires” leaving an open seat.
Clinton made the comments during an appearance at a book event in Scarsdale, New York. She’s promoting her children’s books that are designed to inspire children to “make a difference.”
“I think if someone were to step down or retire and I thought I could do a good job and it matched my talents, I’d have to think if it’s the right choice for me,” Chelsea Clinton told the audience in response to a question about her possible political ambitions.
“I don’t have any plans to run for office, but it is something I think about as I hope every young person thinks about it,” Clinton added. “If you care about what’s happening in the world, you have to care about running for and holding elected office. I hope it’s a question that we ask ourselves.”
Clinton, who is the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and twice-failed former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, says she’d need the right opportunity to come along, and it’s unlikely she’d run in her home district in New York City, where she feels she’s already “well represented.”
Her mother, of course, moved from Washington, D.C. to her now-home in Chappaqua, New York, as part of a bid to “carpet-bag” her way into an easier Senate run — relocating from an area with solid representation to one with an open Senate seat and obvious Democratic front-runner in contention. Clinton ultimately replaced retiring Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Chelsea Clinton said her focus right now is on politics at the national level.
The former first daughter spent her time after college working for a string of consulting and capital management firms before joining NBC for a short-lived stint as a “special correspondent.” When that ultimately didn’t work out Chelsea joined her parents foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, and now spends her time writing children’s books and serving on corporate boards (largely, it seems, at the behest of big-dollar Democratic donors).
Initially, Chelsea dismissed following in her parents’ footsteps and running for public office out of hand, perhaps anticipating that she would earn a prominent spot as an adviser in her mother’s White House. After Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump, Chelsea Clinton has, at least in public statements, warmed to the idea of becoming the next Clinton to enter politics.
In March of last year, Chelsea was definitely not running for public office. In May of this year, Chelsea said she encouraged those asking her to run for office to run themselves, In August, she said she was a “definite maybe.” And now, with her interview, she’s defined the parameters of her potential run: open seats only.
That’s quite the change over just the course of a year.
There aren’t likely to be many open seats for Chelsea to investigate, though. The Senate is set for now, and, more than likely, her local seats will remain firmly in Democratic hands. Her mother’s successor, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, may have the seat Chelsea is eyeing, but while Gillibrand is expected to compete for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, she’s not currently among the favorites. If by some chance she does earn the nod, however, that might leave open the exact sort of opportunity Clinton is looking for.