OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:52 AM – Friday, November 7, 2025
New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik has announced that she is entering the race to become New York’s next governor, challenging incumbent Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul.
Stefanik (R-N.Y.) launched her campaign on Friday, centering it on the affordability crisis in the state of New York, while vowing to unite “Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to save New York.”
“I’m running for governor to make New York affordable and safe. We have seen decades of single-party rule led by Democrats. And Kathy Hochul is the worst governor in America,” Stefanik stated in a Friday Fox News appearance. “New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation, with the highest taxes, the highest energy bills, the highest utility bills. We also have a crime crisis because Kathy Hochul has brought us failed bail reform and has embraced the defund the police Democrats,” she continued.
Stefanik also slammed Hochul for supporting New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, labeling him a “raging anti-Semite, pro-Hamas communist.”
“And after this week… when we saw a raging anti-Semite, pro-Hamas communist who wants to raise taxes. And frankly, he barely won the majority of New York City voters, Kathy Hochul endorsed him and bent the knee,” Stafanik explained. “When New Yorkers were looking for strong leadership from a governor not to bend the knee to Zohran Mamdani, Kathy Hochul bent the knee. Why did she do that? Because she is hemorrhaging support even in her own party among Democrats.”
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“She has failed New Yorkers. So this is a broad coalition of Republicans, independents and Democrats who know that enough is enough. We need commonsense leadership to make New York affordable and safe again.”
In response to Stefanik’s announcement, Hochul’s Campaign Communications Director, Sarafina Chitika, proclaimed that “Sellout Stefanik is Donald Trump’s number one cheerleader in Congress and his right-hand woman in his war on New York: gutting health care, jacking up costs with expensive tariffs, and cutting funding for our police, schools, and hospitals.”
“Apparently, screwing over New Yorkers in Congress wasn’t enough — now she’s trying to bring Trump’s chaos and skyrocketing costs to our state. While Stefanik puts Trump first and New York last, Governor Hochul is lowering costs, cutting middle-class taxes, and fighting for the New Yorkers Stefanik abandoned,” Chitika stated.
According to a recent poll conducted by the Manhattan Institute, 43% of New York state voters stated that they would back Stefanik for governor, while 42% issued support for Hochul, giving Stefanik a slight edge in the highly competitive race. 9% of voters responded to the poll stating that they would vote for “someone else,” while 7% responded “not sure.”
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