Rep. Elise Stefanik officially launches campaign for New York governor
Rep. Stefanik has been a staunch ally of President Trump and a hardline conservative in Congress
by Summer Lane | November 7, 2025
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York has officially launched her campaign for the governorship of New York State on a platform of affordability and law and order.
“Kathy Hochul is the Worst Governor in America,” Rep. Stefanik said in her launch statement on X.
She added, “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. When New Yorkers were looking for leadership from our Governor, she bent the knee to the raging Defund the Police, Tax Hiking Communist causing catastrophe for New York families.”
Stefanik’s possible challenge to Gov. Hochul depends entirely on whether both she and her Democrat opponent win their respective primaries next year in New York.
Gov. Hochul has already responded to Stefanik’s campaign, accusing her of putting “Trump first and you last.”
In a tough-talk statement posted on X, Hochul wrote, “Elise Stefanik is running to deliver New York for Donald Trump and raise your costs. Not on my watch. My message to Trump’s ‘top ally’ — bring it on.”
Stefanik, for her part, said in her statement on Friday that she was running to “make New York affordable and safe FOR ALL.”
“Democrats, Republicans, and Independents will unify to save our state,” she said.
Rep. Stefanik has been a staunch ally and defender of President Donald Trump in Congress. She campaigned heavily for the president during his 2024 run and was briefly nominated to be the UN Ambassador in his administration earlier this year.
According to the president, Stefanik’s nomination was pulled simply to maintain the House of Representatives’ thin Republican majority.
Rep. Stefanik also serves as the Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership and a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
