By SEUNG MIN KIM and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of House Republican leadership and onetime nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is considering a run for New York governor, according to a person close to her.
The person was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The state’s current governor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, was elected in 2022 and is running for reelection next year.
Stefanik, a close ally and fierce defender of President Donald Trump, had been nominated to represent the U.S. at the United Nations. But her nomination was pulled last month amid concerns about leaving a Republican House seat vacant when the party has such a narrow majority in the chamber.
Trump, in a Wednesday morning post on his social media platform Truth Social, wrote, “Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is GREAT!!!
Stefanik, who represents a sprawling congressional district in northern New York, released a statement Wednesday afternoon that didn’t address a potential run for governor but lambasted Hochul as the “Worst Governor in America” and said “we must FIRE Kathy Hochul in 2026 to SAVE NEW YORK.”
If Stefanik does enter the race, she might face off in a Republican primary against Rep. Mike Lawler, who has been teasing a run for several months.
The last Republican governor in New York was former Gov. George Pataki, who served three terms and left office almost two decades ago. Lee Zeldin, current head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and former congressman from Long Island, mounted a serious challenge to Hochul in the governor’s race in 2022, nearly landing what would have been a major upset in the heavily Democratic state.
Asked by reporters about a possible Stefanik candidacy, Hochul said, “No matter the GOP nominee next year that I’ll be running against, it’s going to be an extreme MAGA Republican, and I look forward to that fight.”
Hochul herself is expected to face a contested primary. Her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, earlier this year announced he would not run for reelection alongside the governor next year, hinting instead at his own gubernatorial candidacy. Rep. Ritchie Torres is also rumored to be considering a run and has emerged as one of the governor’s most pronounced Democratic critics.
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Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York.