Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik's former campaign manager, Michael Kracker, has Western New York connections as chair of the Erie County GOP. He spoke with BTPM NPR's Holly Kirkpatrick Monday to explain why the North Country representative abandoned her gubernatorial bid.
Stefanik dropped out of the New York Governor’s race Friday after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman emerged as a primary opponent. President Donald Trump endorsed Blakeman's bid on Saturday.
On the other side of the aisle, Governor Kathy Hochul faces a Democratic primary in June against her own Lieutenant Governor, Antonio Delgado.
The conversation with Kracker, which has been edited for length and clarity, can be heard by clicking 'Listen,' or read the transcript below.
Kirkpatrick: So it was reported that you were - and correct me if I'm wrong - the campaign manager for Elise Stefanik's run for governor. Obviously, she dropped out on Friday. How did that go down? Were you part of the decision making team in advising her to step down?
Kracker: Well, I think to start at the beginning, Elise announced her campaign with some of the most united support that any Republican candidate running for governor has had in the party since Governor Pataki. A tremendous amount of energy, near unity in the Republican Party - 58 out of 62 county chairs - historic, support at launch.
Unfortunately, we all knew going into this race that a primary was going to be a non-starter, and that if we were really serious about beating Kathy Hochul, that was going to be mission one. It was avoiding a nasty primary that was only going to waste resources and divide the party. I have no doubt that had she moved forward, Elise would have won a primary, but it would have made the odds of winning in November much less. And so in looking at the situation with the, you know, [Bruce Blakeman] a candidate emerging from Long Island, Elise said, 'You know, if this is what the party is going to do, is force a primary, then we need to be unified, and I'm not going to create a primary situation.'
It's an unfortunate reality, because I think we had a once in a generation candidate in Elise, but we now have to regroup and find out how we're going to move forward as Republicans to beat Kathy Hochul.
Kirkpatrick: So just to be clear, were you part of that decision? Did you advise her to drop out, or was it her decision?
Kracker: I think the ultimate, the most important voice in that decision was her and her family. And I think, you know, we can get caught up in politics, thinking about the mechanics, but there is a family aspect. She's a young mom, she's got a young son and she was prepared to spend a lot of time away from home. But ultimately with the prospect of a primary she had to weigh the family piece of this very heavily, and made the decision to forego a primary and spend more time with her family. And I respect it, and I wish her and her entire family nothing but the best.
Kirkpatrick: Just to explain a little bit further, because non-politicos might not understand this: so you're saying you're confident she would have won a primary, but you you felt that that was going to weaken your position in the general election. Can you explain exactly how? Is it the lack of fight, if you like? That this primary was one step too far? Or is it something to do with money?
Kracker: No, I think it's a matter of resources. It's a matter of time, and it's a matter of then having to coalesce the party in June rather than February as we expected.
If you look back to the 2022 campaign: Lee Zeldin spent several million dollars to win a primary that was very avoidable and unnecessary. Those were resources that he didn't then have in the general election to take on Kathy Hochul. He had to spend time fighting a primary battle which kind of keeps you to the right, as opposed to moving to the middle, so you can try to build your coalition broader. And it cost him time. And in a race like New York or in a state like New York, where you need to be basically fighting uphill, you need just about everything to align perfectly for you to have a shot. And I think Elise brought a lot to the table, but a primary was going to be a drain on resources, a drain on time, and an unnecessary division when we couldn't afford it. And so while I am confident she would have won the primary, I think it would have made the chances of success in November that much smaller, and in a very narrow window to begin with it was something that she knew we couldn't afford as Republicans, and ultimately made the decision to prevent a primary by getting out of the race. And now it's about the party unifying and moving forward behind a candidate that we think can bring the kind of resources that we were going to get with Elise's campaign.
Kirkpatrick: So you're going fully behind Bruce Blakeman now?
Kracker: I'm looking forward to a conversation about what Erie County's role is going to be in the campaign, and to make sure that we get the investment that we need to be able to turn Erie County red, not just at the governor's race, but down ballot as well. I have a tremendous amount of respect for [Blakeman] the county executive, and I look forward to having a conversation with him and his team about their vision for upstate New York and how that affects his campaign.
