Elise Stefanik ends her short-lived bid for New York governor and won’t seek reelection to House

By Terence Burlij, CNN

(CNN) — Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Friday she was ending her short-lived bid for governor of New York and would not run for another term in Congress.

“While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress,” Stefanik wrote in a post on social media. “I did not come to this decision lightly for our family.”

The announcement came less than two months after Stefanik launched a campaign seeking to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2026, making what would have been a long-shot race in a heavily Democratic state. Stefanik recently drew a primary competitor in Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, whom she invoked in her statement.

“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’s upstate congressional district is conservative terrain, with the congresswoman winning reelection last November by 24 points and Trump carrying it by more than 20 points. Those margins are outside the average Democratic overperformance in House special elections this year and would make it a reach for the party in its pursuit to flip control of the chamber next year, when it needs a net gain of only 3 seats to win the majority.

The abrupt move brings yet another twist in Stefanik’s political arc. It’s unclear what she will do next, but for now, she is set to leave elected office in early 2027.

“Elise is a tremendous talent, regardless of what she does. She will have GREAT success, and I am with her all the way!” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.

Once a Trump critic, Stefanik rose to national prominence with her questioning of witnesses during Trump’s first impeachment and became one of his highest-profile supporters on television and on the campaign. She strongly backed his 2024 bid for the White House, urging the party “to unite around the most popular Republican in America.”

Stefanik had moved up the ranks of the party’s House leadership and with Trump’s return to the White House, she was nominated for the position of US ambassador to the United Nations. Her nomination was later pulled as the GOP navigated a narrow majority with Trump saying at the time it was “essential that we maintain EVERY Republican seat in Congress.”

That left her to stay in the US House, with at least one plan for a farewell toast to her scrapped and her old leadership position already taken by GOP Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan.

She entered the New York governor’s race accusing Hochul of not doing enough to reduce costs in the state or fight antisemitism, seeking to link the incumbent to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who will become the city’s first Muslim mayor.

But Trump wouldn’t endorse Stefanik before or after Blakeman entered the field. And in a chummy Oval Office meeting with Mamdani, Trump declined to agree that Mamdani was a “jihadist” – undercutting a key Stefanik attack line.

“She’s out there campaigning,” Trump told reporters, “and you say things sometimes in a campaign.”

Whoever wins the Republican nomination will face an uphill climb in New York, a solidly Democratic state, though one where Trump made significant inroads in 2024. Former Vice President Kamala Harris carried the state by less than 13 points, down from former President Joe Biden’s 23-point victory there four years earlier.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also gave kudos to her former boss, whom she worked for as communications director.

“Elise Stefanik has been an incredible advocate for the people of her district in Upstate New York, and she will always be a true friend to President Trump. On a personal note, Elise is my former boss. She is a great leader, and an even better person. We love you, @EliseStefanik!” Leavitt posted.

Hochul was able to fend off a challenge from current EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in the 2022 governor’s race, winning a full term by less than 7 points after replacing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021. Republicans have not won a statewide race in New York since 2002.

The chair of the New York Republican Party, Ed Cox, released a statement saying Stefanik would “remain a leader in our party and a powerful voice for our principles” while also endorsing Blakeman and urging other party leaders in the state to follow suit.

“Bruce is a fighter who has proven he knows how to win in difficult political terrain,” Cox said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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