Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), first elected to Congress as a blue state moderate Republican, later pivoted to more pure Trump sycophancy. She was even mentioned as a potential running mate for Trump in 2024.
After Trump’s return to office, Stefanik was first nominated to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, but once it looked like the GOP House majority had gotten too narrow, that nomination was withdrawn, and Stefanik remained a member of Congress. Then, she announced plans to run for governor of New York.
Now, she’ll be doing none of those three jobs.
Stefanik made the surprising announcement Friday that she’s dropping out of the governor’s race, and also that she’s retiring from Congress.
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.
I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and…
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 19, 2025
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“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,” the Congresswoman announced.
Stefanik had been running against Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County Executive, for governor. Both are Trump allies, leading to speculation about which of them the president was likely to endorse. Polling showed, however, that Stefanik was likely far behind Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. New York is a solidly blue state, and 2026 is expected to be a Democratic-leaning year.
“However, as we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, 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, especially in a challenging state like New York.”
While Stefanik is not resigning early, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is, she joins a growing list of House Republicans who are planning their exits ahead of the midterm elections next year.
Per Politico, Stefanik recently “lambasted House Speaker Mike Johnson in a remarkable and public outburst, after months of simmering tension between the two. She accused Johnson of failing to lead the House GOP conference and argued at that point he didn’t have the support to win the speakership again.”
Photo courtesy of an official Congressional portrait.
