My Champlain Valley
November 7, 2025
NEW YORK (ABC22/FOX44) – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik made it official Friday: She is running to be the next governor of New York in 2026.
The North Country representative shared the long-expected news just after 6:00 a.m. in a dramatic campaign video posted to social media, largely taking shots at Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
The announcement bookends an eventful 2025 for Stefanik. The 41-year-old started the year thinking she’d end it as U.N. Ambassador. However, President Donald Trump rescinded her nomination in March over concerns about the Republican Party’s narrow majority in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson later appointed Stefanik the “Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership.” Then, last month, she announced the upcoming release of her book in Spring 2026, titled “Poisoned Ivies,” about reports of antisemitism at some of the country’s elite colleges and universities.
After making the announcement, support for Stefanik quickly rolled in from other Republicans around the state, including a few strong early endorsements. One came from New York’s last Republican governor, George Pataki.
“Elise Stefanik represents the kind of change New York desperately needs,” Pataki wrote. “For too long, our state has been heading in the wrong direction – taxes too high, costs out of control, and families leaving in record numbers.”
Other praise came from both Republican leaders at the New York State Capitol: Will Barclay in the Assembly, and Rob Ortt in the Senate.
But in Stefanik’s own congressional district, NY-21, there seems to be mixed feelings amongst voters early on.
That includes criticism from leaders of a group called “NY-21 Congress Watchdogs,” formed by people living in the district earlier this year to hold whoever represents the North Country accountable, regardless of party.
The effort was started by Peter LaVenia, Co-chair of the Green Party of New York, and Fred Balzac, a longtime North Country resident who currently lives in Saranac Lake.
They argue Stefanik hasn’t done much to help New York, or specifically the North Country, in recent years, and say she’s focused more on helping President Trump. They add that some Trump policies, such as tariffs aimed at Canada, have hurt their rural district.
“The tariffs alone are hurting a district that’s dependent, again, on trade with our neighbor to the north,” LaVenia said. “She owes it to people to sit down and explain why she backs these policies, even when they hurt her constituents.”
“She’s also become very reclusive as a congressional representative,” Balzac said. “She did do town halls, you know, back in the beginning of her terms, but I don’t think she’s done one in many years … She really has not been much of a representative. We’ve needed somebody to represent us, and she hasn’t.”
Gov. Hochul’s campaign team shared a statement too with a similar message, writing in-part: “Sellout Stefanik is Donald Trump’s number one cheerleader in Congress and his right-hand woman in his war on New York.”
The NY-21 Congress Watchdogs also say they have a test of sorts coming up for Stefanik within the next year, as they plan to hold a town hall to give people a chance to share thoughts and concerns on Stefanik, and they plan to invite the congresswoman to give her a chance to speak directly with voters.
It’s also worth noting Stefanik is not the official Republican candidate just yet. She’ll first have to win the primary, just like Hochul will have to do as a Democrat against her current Lieutenant Governor, Antonio Delgado.