Trump loyalist Elise Stefanik announces run for New York governor | New York
Republican New York representative and staunch supporter of Donald Trump, Elise Stefanik, has officially launched her long-awaited campaign for governor.
Reports indicate that Stefanik has been working behind the scenes to gain endorsements from key Republican figures and local officials. But the announcement came three days after New York City voters elected democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, his political and ideological polar opposite, to lead the state’s largest metropolis by far.
The lawmaker, who has represented his district in the House of Representatives for a decade, has recently stepped up his attacks on Democratic governor Kathy Hochul. social mediahe accused her of “kneeling to the Communist Mamdani”.
He repeated those claims in a social media post announcing his offer.
“Kathy Hochul is America’s Worst Governor. Under her failed leadership, New York is the costliest state in the country, with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent and grocery bills. While New Yorkers look to our Governor for leadership, she kneels before the angry Defund the Police, Tax March Communist wreaks havoc for New York families.” he said.
In an interview on Fox News after announcing her bid, Stefanik tried to tie Hochul, who is facing a challenge from the state’s progressive lieutenant, Antony Delgado, for the Democratic nomination to mayor-elect Mamdani, whom Hochul endorsed but received no favors in return.
“He’s an accidental governor,” Stefanik said. “The only reason he was in this position … was because he was lieutenant governor,” according to former governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal and lost to Mamdani by eight points in the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday.
Stefanik said Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani came “because she has lost support among Democrats, even within her own party.”
Hochul’s election campaign quickly posted a video Started microsite by attacking Stefanik SalesStefanik.com.
Sarafina Chitika, Hochul’s campaign spokeswoman, said: He told the City and State Stefanik was the president’s “number one cheerleader in Congress and his right-hand man in his war against New York: depleting health care, driving up costs with expensive tariffs, and cutting funding for our police, schools, and hospitals.”
“Apparently ripping off New Yorkers in Congress wasn’t enough; now he’s trying to bring Trump’s chaos and skyrocketing costs to our state,” Chitika said.
Stefanik, who bills herself as “ultra-Maga” and “proud of it,” wasn’t always a Trump evangelist. She first won her congressional seat in 2014, then became the youngest woman elected to that office at 30. Her early voting record has been relatively modest.
Around November 2019, the House intelligence committee appeared to change its strategy during Trump’s impeachment hearings. Stefanik was among Republican lawmakers who supported the lawsuit seeking to force the US supreme court to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. Although he condemned the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, he also voted to reject Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.
Trump appointed Stefanik as the US ambassador to the United Nations shortly after he was re-elected in November. But earlier this year he announced he was withdrawing Stefanik’s candidacy due to concerns about Republicans’ narrow margins in the House of Representatives.
In response to initial reports that Stefanik would announce her candidacy, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) said: “Stefanik has spent her career selling out New Yorkers to Donald Trump, and that is exactly why she will lose to Kathy Hochul next November.
“From gutting health care to supporting cost-increasing tariffs, Stefanik’s record as Trump’s chief cheerleader couldn’t be more toxic to New York voters. It’s no surprise that even Republicans recognize that ‘ultra-Maga’ Stefanik is a uniquely flawed general election candidate. Come on, Elise.”
