Stefanik expected to announce run for NY governor: Sources

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, a top ally of President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, is expected to announce a campaign for governor in 2026 against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to four people briefed on her plans. Stefanik, whose representative did not respond to a request for comment, could announce the bid as early as Friday, and has informed allies of her plans to seek New York's highest office. She has been a vocal critic of Hochul and doubled down on attacks against her after the upstate moderate governor endorsed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani following his Democratic primary victory. Stefanik, who was briefly nominated for a position as United Nations ambassador by Trump earlier this year, has called Mamdani a "communist," among other attacks, and blasted Democrats' "radical" agenda in Albany. The upstate New York congresswoman, a onetime staffer for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign who helped former House Speaker Paul Ryan prepare for his vice presidential debate, gained prominence in the MAGA movement during the first Trump administration as a vocal defender of the president on the House Intelligence Committee during Democrats' first impeachment inquiry in 2019. New York last elected a Republican governor in 2002 when George Pataki won a third term in office.

Stefanik, whose representative did not respond to a request for comment, could announce the bid as early as Friday, and has informed allies of her plans to seek New York's highest office.

She has been a vocal critic of Hochul and doubled down on attacks against her after the upstate moderate governor endorsed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani following his Democratic primary victory.

Stefanik, who was briefly nominated for a position as United Nations ambassador by Trump earlier this year, has called Mamdani a "communist," among other attacks, and blasted Democrats' "radical" agenda in Albany.

The upstate New York congresswoman, a onetime staffer for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign who helped former House Speaker Paul Ryan prepare for his vice presidential debate, gained prominence in the MAGA movement during the first Trump administration as a vocal defender of the president on the House Intelligence Committee during Democrats' first impeachment inquiry in 2019.

New York last elected a Republican governor in 2002 when George Pataki won a third term in office.