Congressman Ro Khanna rules out running for Senate seat

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna on Sunday ruled out running for the vacant US Senate seat from California and extended his support to his fellow Democratic lawmaker Barbara Lee.

''I have concluded that, despite a lot of enthusiasm from Bernie folks, the best place, the most exciting place, action place for me to serve as a progressive in the House of Representatives, and I'm honoured to be co-chairing Barbara Lee's campaign for the Senate and endorsing her today,'' Khanna told CNN in an interview.

''We need a strong anti-war senator, and she will play that role,'' Khanna said when asked about the possibilities of him running for the Senate seat after its current occupant Senator Dianne Feinstein recently said that she is not running for reelection.

''Barbara Lee is a unique voice. She was the lone vote against the endless war in Afghanistan. She stood up so strongly against the war in Iraq. She worked with me in trying to stop the war in Yemen and the war powers resolution," he said.

''Frankly, representation matters. We don't have a single African American woman in the United States Senate. She would fill that role. She will be the only candidate from Northern California, and she's going to consolidate a lot of progressives," he said.

''The other two are formidable candidates, but I think Barbara Lee is going to be very, very strong," Khanna said in response to a question.

Khanna is now co-chairing the election campaign of Congresswoman Barbara Lee running for the Senate seat in California.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)