GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik unexpectedly dropped her bid to become New York’s next governor Friday.
“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. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” she posted on X.
“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.”
Rumors swirled among Empire State Republican circles earlier Friday that the staunch ally of President Trump would ultimately not challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s re-election bid.
The decision by Stefanik will spare a likely bruising gubernatorial primary battle with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman over who’ll be the Republican standard bearer in 2026’s election.
Hochul held solid leads over both Stefanik and Blakeman in a recent poll, despite over half of New Yorkers saying they want a new governor.
Trump had pointedly remained neutral in the emerging primary battle between Stefanik and Blakeman.
“He’s a friend. She’s a friend. These are two great people running. In a way, I hate to see them running against each other. I hope they’re not going to be damaging each other,” he said.
Stefanik had been in the running to be US ambassador to the United Nations, but Trump pulled her nomination to keep her in a Congress with a razor-thin Republican majority.
