WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik, who as soon as assisted with former Sen. Mitt Romney’s presidential marketing campaign in 2012, will run for New York governor in 2026, she introduced on Friday.
Stefanik introduced her bid in a 2½-minute video posted to X, making authentic what many purported to be the case because the Republican congresswoman has laid the groundwork for months to problem Gov. Kathy Hochul subsequent November. Stefanik has had a meteoric upward push inside of her birthday celebration during the last decade, positioning herself as certainly one of President Donald Trump’s maximum distinguished allies.
“The Empire State has fallen,” the voiceover in Stefanik’s first marketing campaign advert says. “However from the ashes of Kathy Hochul’s failed insurance policies, New York will upward push like we all the time do. The spirit of the Empire State can’t be damaged. All we’d like is a brave chief in a position for the combat. Elise Stefanik will make New York inexpensive and protected.”
Stefanik started her occupation in her early 20s whilst operating within the Bush management for the U.S. Home Coverage Council and later as an assistant to the White Space leader of personnel. In 2012, Stefanik joined Romney’s presidential marketing campaign to lend a hand organize and get ready vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan for debates.
The ones positions helped get ready Stefanik to be a prolific fundraiser and communicator for her birthday celebration, in the end resulting in her first congressional marketing campaign in 2014 — all through which she won the endorsement of Romney and Ryan.
“After operating with Elise, I do know she’s going to make the twenty first District proud, and she’s going to ship effects,” Romney mentioned on the time. “Elise understands the desires of small companies and the right way to develop the native financial system. She is an individual of integrity. Each and every marketing campaign is other, however values do not trade.”
Along with her victory, Stefanik made historical past because the youngest girl to be elected to Congress at simply 30 years previous. Within the decade since, Stefanik has had a gradual upward push to energy serving in quite a lot of management positions, together with because the Space Republican Convention chairwoman in 2021 to switch former Rep. Liz Cheney.
In that place, Stefanik served as a best best friend to Trump inside the halls of Congress to verify a easy trail for his first-term schedule.
After Trump received the 2024 election, Stefanik used to be straight away rumored as a best candidate for a job inside of his management. The New York congresswoman used to be nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to the United International locations, even though that used to be in the end withdrawn previous this yr because of Republicans’ narrow majority within the Space.
After that nomination fell via, Stefanik set her eyes at the governor’s mansion within the Empire State — and started criticizing incumbent Hochul to put the groundwork for her marketing campaign.
Regardless of her popularity, Stefanik will nonetheless face an uphill struggle, as a Republican has now not been elected governor in New York since 2002.
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