Former Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley reportedly could have shoveled political dirt on current New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but decided to say nothing about it.

Crowley, who was expected to win his congressional nomination with ease, lost in a stunning upset. He was either apparently confident during his race with Ocasio-Cortez that he didn’t think he needed to resort to mudslinging, or he didn’t think it was the right thing to do. He reportedly thought doing so would make him look unnecessarily desperate, according to a new book obtained by the New York Post. Crowley was even allegedly expecting to replace Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the then-House minority leader.