Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik introduced Friday she was ending her short-lived bid for governor of New York and wouldn’t run for one other time period in Congress.
”While spending treasured time with my household this Christmas season, I’ve made the choice to droop my marketing campaign for Governor and is not going to seek re-election to Congress,” Stefanik wrote in a submit on social media. “I did not come to this decision lightly for our family.”
The determination got here lower than two months after the Trump-aligned lawmaker launched a marketing campaign looking for to problem Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2026. Stefanik just lately drew a main competitor within the former of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, whom she invoked in her assertion.
“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,” Stefanik wrote.
The chair of the New York Republican Party, Ed Cox, launched an announcement saying Stefanik would “remain a leader in our party and a powerful voice for our principles” whereas additionally endorsing Blakeman and urging different get together leaders within the state to comply with swimsuit.
“Bruce is a fighter who has proven he knows how to win in difficult political terrain,” Cox mentioned.