As Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) mulls a bid for New York’s governorship, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is offering some unsolicited advice: Please do.
“Here’s my political advice for Elise Stefanik: Run, Elise, run,” Jeffries told reporters on Thursday in the Capitol.
The remarks are an early indication that New York Democrats like the odds of keeping control of the governor’s mansion — currently occupied by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who is seeking reelection — if Stefanik is her challenger.
Hours earlier, Stefanik had clashed with Hochul during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staged to examine the controversial immigration policies of a handful of states run by Democrats — a topic that helped propel President Trump to the White House.
Stefanik, who is weighing a run for the New York governor’s mansion next year, is not a member of the Oversight panel. But GOP leaders granted her a waiver to appear at the hearing, where she sparred fiercely with Hochul over New York’s status as a sanctuary state.
Ticking off a series of violent crimes in New York committed by those living in the country illegally, Stefanik accused the governor of championing policies that have compromised public safety.
“They’re horrific crimes that are committed on your watch. You signed this executive order on your first day in office,” she said. “We deserve a governor who stands up for New Yorkers, who doesn’t put illegals first but actually puts New Yorkers first.”
Hochul shot back, accusing Stefanik of peacocking before the cameras to score political points against a potential opponent in next year’s governor’s race.
“Rather than going after the viral moment, I suggest you look at the facts,” Hochul said. “Your representation of the facts is absolutely false.”
Stefanik, 40, was first elected to the House in 2014, earning an early reputation as a moderate Republican and bipartisan dealmaker. That began to change when Trump won the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. Afterward, Stefanik shifted to the right to become a fierce partisan — and one of Trump’s staunchest congressional defenders.
When former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was removed as chair of the House Republican Conference for challenging Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, it was Stefanik who replaced her in leadership.
Earlier in the year, Trump nominated Stefanik to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The nomination was withdrawn in March, however, over concerns about how the vacancy would affect the Republicans’ legislative plans under a slim House majority.
The reversal temporarily left Stefanik without a seat at the leadership table, though she has since been named chair of House Republican leadership, prompting speculation that she will jump into the governor’s race in 2026.