U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik launched her gubernatorial campaign on Friday, pledging to unseat Governor Kathy Hochul in 2026.
The upstate Republican congresswoman, who has President Donald Trump's backing, chided Hochul, a Democrat, for creating "the most unaffordable state in the nation."
"Under her failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery bills," Stefanik said on X.
"When New Yorkers were looking for leadership from our governor, she bent the knee to the raging Defund the Police, Tax Hiking Communist causing catastrophe for New York families," she wrote, referring to Hochul's endorsement of incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
In her campaign video, Stefanik said she would make the state safe and affordable for families and small business owners.
New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox said he is supporting Stefanik's candidacy.
"Elise Stefanik is a unifier and a party builder with the brains, the guts and the resources to win statewide next year," he said in a statement. "She has fought for our principles every day of her career, and never backs down. She is the warrior we need to lead the fight against Democrats' corrupt Albany machine."
New Yorkers will vote for their next governor on Nov. 4, 2026.
