Stefanik Poised To Announce Bid For New York Governor On Friday

ALBANY, New York – Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, an ardent ally of President Donald Trump, will launch her long-expected bid for governor Friday, four people with direct knowledge of her plans told POLITICO.

Stefanik’s announcement will include a video and will be followed by a statewide tour. She has worked to line up endorsements from Republican leaders and elected officials, according to three of the people with knowledge of the calls.

The upstate Republican has served in the House for the last decade and in recent months has ratcheted up her criticism of Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, repeatedly calling her the “worst governor in America.”

Stefanik is making her announcement after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican reelected to a second term on Tuesday, signaled this week he was also considering a bid for governor.

A Stefanik spokesperson declined to comment about her plans.

But Stefanik will be running in a deep blue state where Trump is highly unpopular. The president helped clear the field for Stefanik earlier this year when he endorsed Rep. Mike Lawler, a moderate GOP lawmaker considered a potentially strong statewide candidate, for reelection to his swing seat in the New York City suburbs.

Stefanik expects to leverage Zohran Mamdani’s election this week in the New York City mayor’s race and plans to tie the governor to the democratic socialist, who holds anti-Israel views and is deeply polarizing in the bellwether suburbs.

Stefanik’s withering questioning of Ivy League presidents over campus antisemitism earned her support from Jewish voters and she plans to release a book on the issue next year. Still, she will have to introduce herself to a broader Democratic-dominated electorate in New York that has not backed a Republican for the governor’s office since 2002.

"Under Kathy Hochul’s weak catastrophic leadership, New York City has now fallen to a pro-Hamas, Defund the Police, Tax Hiking, Antisemite Jihadist Communist,” Stefanik said in a statement when Tuesday’s mayoral results came in.

“And instead of standing up for hardworking New York families, Kathy Hochul proved once again that she is truly the Worst Governor in America with her desperate endorsement of Commie Mamdani.”

Hochul’s campaign has called Stefanik “an unhinged Trump enabler” and cast doubt on polls from right-leaning entities showing a competitive race.

“You’ve got to hand it to Sellout Stefanik: when her own polls don’t reflect reality, she can count on Trump and his megadonors — like Betsy DeVos and Paul Singer — to repeat her lies,” a Hochul campaign spokesperson said.

Stefanik is the third major candidate to enter the gubernatorial field.

Hochul is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.