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WASHINGTON — Upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) launched a political action committee (PAC) on Wednesday to help juice donations for Republican candidates in statewide and local races, adding another source of fundraising to draw from should she jump into the 2026 governor’s race.
The Save New York PAC will help fund “strong, commonsense Republican leadership” in “local elections this November to build the groundwork for 2026,” Stefanik said in a statement, before ripping Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul as “the worst governor in America.”
“I am proud of the strong support my political team has developed over the past decade due to the generous support from New York voters and donors who have built our political apparatus into a fundraising and political juggernaut to deliver policies that benefit hardworking New York families,” she added.
The PAC will boost GOP candidates who are focused on cutting taxes, supporting school choice, ending so-called “sanctuary” policies and opposing state bail reform laws as well as “Defund the Police insanity,” according to its website.
Stefanik, 43, has already pulled ahead of potential Republican gubernatorial opponents while narrowing the polling gap between herself and Hochul to a dead heat, according to recent surveys, but has yet to formally enter the race.
Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler and Nassau County Bruce Blakeman are rumored to also be in the running but haven’t announced.
President Trump withdrew Stefanik’s nomination to be US ambassador to the UN in March, keeping her in the House in order to help the razor-thin Republican majority pass a multitrillion-dollar tax, border, defense and energy bill this year.
Around the same time, sources spilled that the New York Republican — whose federal campaign funds top $10 million and could be easily transferred for a statewide race — was being “approached by major donors, New York GOP leadership and Trumpworld to run for governor.”
Stefanik told The Post in April that she was “in the strongest position to defeat” Hochul, which would make her the first Republican leader of New York state since former Gov. George Pataki left office in 2006.
The Democratic governor shot back in a CNN interview later: “I look forward to that fight. No matter who it is. It’s not settled yet, but I say bring it on.”
On Tuesday, Stefanik delivered a speech to a group of Staten Island Republicans saying that New Yorkers were about ready to “fire” Hochul for failed immigration policies, along with a punishing $9 per day congestion toll on commuters into Manhattan.
“We’re seeing an abysmal economic outlook,” Stefanik said at the annual Lincoln Dinner. “We have the highest tax state in the nation under single-party Democrat rule led by Kathy Hochul. We have sky-high regulations that are running small businesses out of our state.”
Through May and June, Stefanik has been attending dinners and speaking engagements in the Capital District, Mohawk Valley, Erie and Suffolk counties, and New York City.
That follows several election cycles where the North Country candidate had helped secure critical wins that allowed Republicans to retake the US House of Representatives — and ran well in front of even Trump in her own district.
