POLITICO Pro McCaskill won't run for Mo. governor Democrats start lining up behind the state AG in the 2016 race.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said Monday that she won’t run for governor in 2016, with the two-term Democrat instead positioning herself for a “very likely” reelection bid in 2018.

McCaskill had been considering a gubernatorial campaign, and aides maintained she was deciding what office would give her the greatest impact on Missourians, as well as how her choice might affect her family. She said she made her decision over the holidays.


“I love the work, so at the end of the day, you’ve got to decide if the job you’re thinking about going for — is it a better job than the one you have and can you do more? And frankly, I am convinced I can’t,” McCaskill told KCUR-FM, a public radio station in Kansas City.

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Pressed about whether her decision was final, she said, “I will not be running for governor in 2016. That’s a firm no.” She added that she’ll begin fundraising for her 2018 reelection in earnest this year.

McCaskill endorsed Attorney General Chris Koster for governor, calling Koster “a terrific candidate that is ready to run for governor and will be a great governor.”

“I look forward to working really hard for Chris Koster,” she said.

National Democrats quickly jumped to line up behind Koster’s candidacy.

“As a career prosecutor who has always put Missouri families and their safety first, Attorney General Chris Koster is the right kind of leader to be Missouri’s next Governor,” Democratic Governors Association executive director Elisabeth Pearson said in a statement. “Sen. McCaskill has been a great leader and an effective Senator for the people of Missouri, and we are excited to work with both her and General Koster to ensure that Democrats retain the Governor’s office next year.”

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McCaskill said her decision wasn’t based on which seat she’s likelier to win. Instead, she cited her seniority and ascendance on the Armed Service Committee and the Aging Committee.

“This isn’t a poll-driven decision,” she said. “By the way, my polls are pretty good right now.”

Asked if it felt bittersweet to give up her long dream of becoming the state’s first female governor, she said, “It felt wrong to turn away from my seat in the United States Senate towards another job just because it would check a box that I was the first woman governor.”

McCaskill cruised to reelection in 2012 despite early predictions of her demise, in part because of the implosion of her Republican opponent, Todd Akin, who made controversial statements about rape and pregnancy. Although that’s led some McCaskill critics to contend she was lucky to survive the challenge, her allies point out that McCaskill and Senate Democrats were heavily involved in nudging Akin toward the Republican nomination, predicting that he was the most volatile candidate among the crowded field.

She’d likely need to pull off another upset in 2018, a midterm election year. But supporters of McCaskill say she’s tempted to stay put, if only to continue her work on issues like sexual assault in the military. Those issues have appeal on both sides of the aisle and would give her a chance to partner with the newly empowered Republican majority.

McCaskill ran for governor in 2004, losing to Republican Matt Blunt, whose father, Roy, now serves alongside McCaskill in the Senate.