Rumors have been swirling for weeks about North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik’s next political move after President Donald Trump took her out of the running for UN ambassador last month.
It seems Stefanik is pivoting to New York’s top political post. The Republican, who lives in Saratoga County, was on Fox News on Sunday and was asked about her potential run for governor.
“Absolutely I am strongly considering it," said Stefanik, "because look at the crises that Kathy Hochul and single-party Democrat rule have delivered to New Yorkers and this has been over the period of decades."
Stefanik criticized high tax rates and high levels of outmigration in New York. She said New Yorkers are "yearning for a new generation of leadership."
"The outpouring of support has been tremendous and Kathy Hochul is the worst governor in America. I dubbed that of Andrew Cuomo, not thinking anybody could make it worse," said Stefanik. "Kathy Hochul makes the impossible possible. She is the worst governor and it shows in her poor, abysmal approval ratings.”
Hochul’s approval rating has gone up slightly in recent months, from 40 to 44% in the latest poll from Siena College.
A day after Stefanik was on Fox, Hochul appeared on CNN and was asked about the potential challenge from Stefanik.
Hochul pushed back, saying any Republican with deep ties to President Donald Trump faces an uphill battle in New York.
"No matter who runs against me, they will have the baggage of explaining why- people’s prices went up, why they lost health care, why they lost medicaid, why they lost education," said Hochul.
Trump’s funding cuts have targeted schools, his tariffs have hurt the stock market, and Republicans are considering sweeping cuts to Medicaid, which covers more than 190,000 people in the North Country.
On CNN on Monday, Hochul said she’s ready for next year’s election. "I look forward to that fight. No matter who it is, it’s not settled yet, but I say bring it on.”
The last Republican to win the governor’s race in New York was George Pataki when he was reelected in 2002.
But Hochul’s most recent win a few years ago was the smallest margin of victory in decades. She defeated Republican Lee Zeldin by about 6%.