Former U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney says she hasn’t ruled out seeking an election rematch next year with Rep. Anthony Brindisi, who defeated her in 2018 in one of the closest House races in the nation.

Tenney, a Republican from New Hartford, was asked about the possibility of trying to win back the 22nd Congressional District seat during an appearance Thursday on WUTQ-FM (100.7) in Utica.

“You mean a rematch?” Tenney said playfully with the hosts of Talk of the Town. “You mean the comeback, like Tiger Woods? Yeah. No, I don’t know.”

Asked later to elaborate, Tenney said she has considered launching a 2020 campaign. “I’ve had a lot of people approach me, especially here all over the community,” she said.

Tenney did not say whether she has set a deadline for a decision about her future in politics. She did not respond when asked for comment by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Federal Election Commission records in Washington show Tenney did not raise money for a 2020 campaign in the first quarter of year.

Tenney had $58,494 remaining in her campaign account, while Brindisi reported having $392,304 in his campaign account as of March 31, FEC records show.

The candidates and special-interest groups spent about $24 million on the 22nd District campaign last year, making it one of the most expensive House races in the nation.

Brindisi, D-Utica, won the 2018 election by about 1 percentage point after a count of absentee ballots.

At least one Republican sees no reason to wait for Tenney to decide whether she’ll enter the 2020 race. George Phillips, a high school history teacher from Broome County, began his campaign for the GOP nomination in March. Phillips has run unsuccessfully for Congress three other times. He lost to Tenney in a 2016 primary election.

Tenney told WUTQ that she has been doing “a lot of soul-searching and traveling” since her single term in Congress ended in January.

She traveled to South Korea with the Association of Former Members of Congress, a bipartisan nonprofit group.

Tenney said she took a trip to Memphis, where she spoke to students at Rhodes College and toured the National Civil Rights Museum.

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