Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is dropping out of the state’s gubernatorial race, she announced in a post to X on Friday. Stefanik also announced that she will not seek reelection to Congress in 2026.
“While we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York,” Stefanik wrote.
Stefanik, who has represented her upstate New York district since 2015, was vying for the Republican nomination for the governor’s seat against Nassau County’s executive, Bruce Blakeman, another ally of President Donald Trump.