Matt Castelli, the Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, last year, will not run again in 2024.

“I poured my heart and soul into the 2022 campaign,” Castelli wrote in an email to county Democratic chairs in the 21st Congressional District on April 3. “And while this mission endures, it requires passing the baton to a candidate with fresh legs.”

Just who might be accepting the baton from Castelli is not known.

No one, so far, has expressed an interest in running, said Warren County Democratic Chairwoman Lynne Boecher.

“No — not at all,” she said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Some area Democrats have repeatedly said they hoped Castelli, a former CIA counterterrorism official, would run again in 2024, building on the momentum of his 2022 campaign, in which he lost to Stefanik, the Republican incumbent, by an 18-percentage-point margin.

“I know that this news may be disappointing to some of your committees and communities. It is not a decision I came to lightly,” Castelli wrote in the email to county chairmen.

“It’s disappointing,” Boecher confirmed. “He was a fine candidate that offered a definite alternative to the current (Stefanik) leadership.”

Boecher said that Castelli, who moved to the town of Saratoga and later to Glens Falls during the campaign, is still registered to vote in Glens Falls, but, to the best of her knowledge, he has been spending most of his time in Washington D.C.

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Urges moderation

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In an April 4 post on the email newsletter platform Substack, Castelli urged the next 21st District Democratic candidate to continue his strategy of running as a moderate.

Castelli said the fact that he received a larger share of the vote in the district than Gov. Kathy Hochul shows that his strategy worked.

Castelli received 40.2% of the vote in the district, while, in the governor’s race, Hochul received 35.6 % of the vote in the 21st District, according to the state Board of Elections.

Castelli blamed the state Democratic party, in part, for his loss.

“The 2022 election made it clear NY Democrats have a branding problem,” he wrote.

Castelli also criticized the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of House Democrats.

“The DCCC and Democratic party failed to show up in NY-21,” he wrote. “They didn’t have any polling or unique insight, just a hunch that they didn’t think we could win against a powerful and well-resourced incumbent.”

Boecher said it’s true that it is difficult to get national support for local congressional races because of the heavy Republican enrollment advantage and because of Stefanik’s prominence as an incumbent, but that is only one factor.

“I think any demonstration of reflection includes self-reflection. And I have yet to see that from Matt,” she said.

Stefanik, who is in her fifth term, has not yet said whether she will run for re-election in 2024.

Jill Lochner of Greenfield Center announced in March her candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 21st District, setting up a potential primary with Stefanik, should Stefanik run.