Republican Rep Elise Stefanik announces run for New York governor

Rep. Elise Stefanik leaves a House Republican Conference meeting with President Donald Trump in May.

Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik announced she will run for governor of New York in 2026, challenging Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul.

In an announcement on X on Friday, Stefanik called Hochul "the worst governor in America" and said that New York had become "the most unaffordable state in the nation."

Hochul responded to Stefanik's announcement, calling the representative Donald Trump's "number one cheerleader in Congress and his right-hand woman in his war on New York."

Stefanik, 41, has represented New York's 21st congressional district, which is north of Albany and includes the Adirondack Mountains, since 2014 and she has indicated her intention to run for governor.

She has been a staunch ally of Trump, emerging as one of his most vocal supporters during his first impeachment in 2019.

For his second term, Trump initially nominated her for United Nations ambassador but withdrew her nomination due to considerations about the Republicans' majority in the US House of Representatives.

Stefanik also hit Hochul for her late-in-the-race endorsement of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, claiming she "bent the knee to the raging Defund the Police, Tax Hiking Communist causing catastrophe for New York families."

A Siena College poll of 802 registered New York voters from September suggested that in a hypothetical match up between the two politicians, Hochul received 52% of support while Stefanik garnered 27%.

However, the same poll suggested dissatisfaction with Hochul's leadership. If she ran for governor again in 2026, 37% of respondents would vote for her, while 51% said they would prefer someone else. Twelve percent did not know.

She already faces a Democratic primary challenge from her lieutenant governor, Anthony Delgado.

The last Republican governor of New York, George Pataki, served until 2007.