Republican New York State Rep. Elise Stefanik abruptly suspended her campaign Friday afternoon to unseat Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Stefanik said she made the decision to drop out of the race after spending time with her family during the holiday season. The New York Republican also said she will not seek another term in the House of Representatives during next year's midterm elections. (RELATED: Elise Stefanik has gone full MAGA—so where is her support for Trump?)
Stefanik cited potentially painful primaries against Nassau executive Bruce Blakeman as part of her rationale for dropping out of the race.
“I am truly touched and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support for our campaign to save New York from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents and Democrats across the state,” Stefanik said in a statement. mail on X.
“However, as we saw in the last election, while we would have won these primaries overwhelmingly, spending the first half of next year on an unnecessary and drawn-out Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York, is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources.”
Stefanik also had to rise sharply to defeat Hochul in the midterm elections in what could be a tough year for Republicans. Democrats also outnumber Republicans 2 to 1 among registered voters in the Empire State, which has not elected a Republican governor in more than two decades.
Hochul led Stefanik by 19 percentage points in a hypothetical general election matchup. according to to the Siena College poll released Tuesday.
Although Stefanik led Blakeman by more than 30 points in the same poll, his presence in the race complicated her path to victory. The competitive primary has forced Stefanik to look away from Hochul, who is facing her primary challenge, and to question why a staunch Trump ally hasn't done so. received Presidential approval.
Stefanik, long considered a rising star in the Republican Party, positioned herself as one of Trump's most vocal defenders in Congress during his 2019 impeachment. popular during her scathing questioning of Ivy League university presidents about anti-Semitism on their campuses. She was appointed Trump's ambassador to the UN, but her candidacy was pulled out due to concerns about the razor-thin Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 12: US President Donald Trump holds hands with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as Trump honors the 1980 US Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team in the Oval Office of the White House on December 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Blakeman, who has long maintained a close relationship with Trump, has also made recent moves to win the president's support.
Blakeman's campaign announced Thursday that they will begin airing campaign ads at the West Palm Beach media market during Christmas, where Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence is located.
New York Republican leaders began shifting their support for Blakeman's campaign Friday after initially rallying behind Stefanik's campaign. Stefanik received support more than 75% of the state's GOP county chairs, making her the presumptive nominee before her campaign was suspended.
“Working together, and with Bruce Blakeman as our candidate, Republicans will defeat Kathy Hochul, end Democrats' affordability crisis, and end New York's leading out-migration,” New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox said in a statement.
Stefanik announced her candidacy for governor in November after teasing her candidacy for months under the slogan “Save New York.”
She also sought throw Khochul is in lockstep with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whom she has called a “communist” and a “jihadist.” However, Mamdani's line of attack became more complex after Trump friendly Meeting with the new mayor in the Oval Office.
While Blakeman argues his moderate style will make him a more competitive candidate in the general election than Stefanik, most Republican voters in the state are unfamiliar with him, according to the Siena poll.
Stefanik's decision to leave Congress came after she irritated House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in December and proposed most GOP lawmakers would vote for new leadership. She later softened her criticism in an interview with Punchbowl News.
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and unbiased news service, is available free of charge to any legitimate news publisher that can reach a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter's byline and DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our policies or partnerships with us, please contact [email protected].
