New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik will run for governor in 2026, she announced Friday.
The announcement comes after Stefanik spent months hinting at a run and attacking the leadership of Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is up for reelection. Stefanik lambasted Hochul’s immigration policies during a House oversight hearing earlier this year and has repeatedly accused Hochul of creating an affordability crisis in the state.
“Kathy Hochul is the Worst Governor in America. Under her failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery bills,” Stefanik said in a social media post announcing her campaign.
Stefanik, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has chaired House Republican leadership since April in a role created for her by House Speaker Mike Johnson. She was previously chair of the House Republican Conference before stepping down to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — a nomination that Trump ultimately pulled because of concerns over Republicans’ thin majority in Congress.
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She is widely viewed as Republicans’ best shot at gaining the governor’s seat, which the party has not held for almost two decades. She has the backing of multiple people in Trump’s orbit and secured endorsements from New York Republican leaders on Friday.
Hochul won the seat by less than seven percentage points in 2022. But Hochul’s favorability rating has seen a slight uptick in recent months, and Democrats around the country have applauded her role in Democratic state leaders’ resistance to the Trump administration’s policies.
Stefanik’s campaign announcement hit Hochul for her endorsement of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist. A video announcing Stefanik’s campaign launch accused Hochul of “cozying up to a defund the police, tax-hiking, antisemitic communist” over videos and pictures of Mamdani — an attack Republicans pledged to make against all Democratic candidates going forward.
Republican Bruce Blakeman, the county executive in Nassau County, New York, is also reportedly considering a run for governor. Two other Republican candidates have filed paperwork for the primary election.
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