Does Richard Hanna regret not running for re-election to Congress?

The former GOP representative of NY-24, then NY-22, sat out the last election - a campaign that turned into a three-way race won by rival Republican Claudia Tenney. Hanna said he has considered making another run for Washington, but said that if he did it would be as an Independent.

Hanna joined WIBX First News with Keeler in the Morning on Tuesday to share his thoughts on the state of the national political discussion under the new Trump Administration, including issues like healthcare and the travel ban.

Hanna's comments about a potential bid to return to Washington came after he addressed reports that he'd been considering a run for governor.

But running for governor isn't realistic for Hanna, he said, because ''the Republican party would never support me...If Carl Paladino and Claudia Tenney and some of these extreme people are the brand of the party'', citing issues like Planned Parenthood, LGBT rights and the GOP's effort to overhaul healthcare.

''I didn't leave the Republican party, it left me'', Hanna said.

After acknowledging the idea of another run for Congress has crossed his mind, Hanna quickly brushed off his own comments saying he'd rather stay home with his wife and children. Instead, he hopes a ''solid Republican or Democrat gives Ms.Tenney a race that's thoughtful, deliberate and based on the issues, not all the hate speech that sells so easily to her base,'' he said.

And, he continued holding back no criticism of Representative Tenney for her vote to repeal and replace Obamacare, saying the first version of the House bill wasn't 'mean enough' for her and some other Republican members.

Hanna, who was heavily criticized for his own public stance to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton instead of his own party's candidate, now-President Trump, Hanna said he had hoped he was wrong about Trump, but said ''I haven't seen anything yet to suggest that I was.''

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