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NEW YORK ― Susan Rice, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama, said that she will not be running for a U.S. Senate seat in Maine, currently held by Senator Susan Collins (R).
“I think like a lot of people I was deeply disappointed when Susan Collins decided to vote for Brett Kavanaugh,” Rice said to author Alyssa Mastromonaco at Tina Brown’s 10th Annual Women in the World Summit in New York City on Thursday.
“It felt like a betrayal frankly to all women and it made me think very seriously about whether I oughta run for Senate in 2020,” she continued. “I love Maine. My family has deep roots in Maine that go back more than 100 years.”
But, after speaking to her family, she decided that now is not the time to move her family full time to Maine.
“In the course of weighing it all, I’ve decided with my family that the timing really isn’t right for us,” she said to a disappointed crowd. However, she added, “I don’t rule out running for office in the future. In Maine or beyond.”
Rice teased a possible Senate run against Collins back in October after the Republican senator voted in favor of Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. The judge was accused by three women of sexual assault or misconduct, one of whom, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, delivered an emotional testimony in front of the entire country about her accusation that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her when the two were in high school.
Despite multiple accusations, Kavanaugh was confirmed to the highest court in the land in early October. Collins’ vote was widely viewed as one of the integral swing votes that sealed Kavanaugh’s fate.
Since voting in favor of Kavanaugh, Collins has become a big target for Democrats leading up to the 2020 race. Democratic donors and activists vowed to respond to Collins after the confirmation hearing, and major donors have already pledged $1 million to register and educate voters ahead of the race. Organizers told HuffPost in October that they hope to raise as much as $4 million.
There have been no other major candidates declared for the 2020 Maine Senate race but a few names, including former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree and current Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, have been floated.
Watch Rice’s full Women in the World conversation below.
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