Elise Stefanik halts short-lived run for New York governor, vows to leave Congress

Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Friday that she’s stepping away from her campaign to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial race and that she will not seek re-election to the House when her current term ends.

Stefanik, who represents New York’s North Country, has been a rising star in the Republican Party under President Donald Trump. She made her announcement weeks after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, another Trump ally, announced that he too would run to challenge Hochul, a Democrat seeking election to her second full term in the governor’s mansion.

In a post on X , Stefanik said that 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, and said that she wants to focus more on her child’s safety, growth, and happiness.

“While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” Stefanik wrote in the post.

This week, Siena University released the results of a poll of registered voters that showed Stefanik trailing Hochul by 19 percentage points.