Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Friday she is running for governor of New York, promising to make the state “affordable and safe.” She shared the news in a video posted to X, saying it’s time to “Fire Hochul. Save New York.”
In her post, Stefanik said Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has caused “catastrophe for New York families,” saying she bent the knee to “the raging defund the police and tax-hiking communist.”
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“I am running for Governor to make New York affordable and safe FOR ALL,” Stefanik wrote.
What the video says
The two-and-a-half-minute launch video focuses largely on affordability but also includes criticisms of Hochul and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
“Kathy Hochul made New York the most unaffordable state in the nation, crushing families with sky-high taxes, unaffordable rent, soaring energy costs and record-high grocery bills, and cozied up to an anti-police, tax-hiking, anti-semitic communist,” a narrator says in the video.
The video concludes: “With everything on the line, we need someone who will deliver results and make New York affordable and safe for families and small businesses. Elise Stefanik will clean up Kathy Hochul’s catastrophe and restore New York’s greatness.”
Ties to Trump
Although Stefanik’s video makes no mention of President Donald Trump, their relationship has grown close in recent years.
In 2016, Stefanik criticized Trump’s behavior toward women as “offensive” and disagreed with aspects of his foreign policy. But during Trump’s first impeachment, she emerged as one of his most vocal defenders — prompting Trump to call her a “new Republican star.”
Trump later nominated Stefanik for U.N. ambassador, but later withdrew the nomination due to the slim GOP House majority. She was subsequently appointed chairwoman of House Republican leadership, a new position focused on strategy and communications.
Earlier this year, Stefanik said she was weighing a run for governor and would announce a decision after the 2025 elections.
Race for governor
Stefanik, who was the youngest woman elected to the House, faces an uphill race in deep-blue New York. Hochul, who took office after Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, is running for her second full term.
Hochul won her first term in 2022 by roughly 6 points, but Trump’s stronger 2024 showing — narrowing Democrats’ margin in the state by 11 points — could signal a more competitive race in 2026.
