Elise Stefanik ends bid for New York governor and plans to leave Congress

Republican US representative Elise Stefanik – a staunch ally of Donald Trump who calls herself “ultra-Maga” – is ending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek re-election to Congress.

Stefanik wrote on X: “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”.

Once considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for governor, Stefanik’s race became more complicated after Bruce Blakeman, the executive of Nassau county, entered the race. If she did manage to win the primary, she would have faced a tough battle to unseat New York’s Democratic governor Kathy Hochul, who has been polling far ahead in a state where Democrats far outnumber Republicans.

The state’s Republican chair, Ed Cox, said the party respected Stefanik’s decision and endorsed Blakeman. “Bruce Blakeman has my endorsement and I urge our state committee and party leaders to join me,” Cox said in a prepared statement. “Bruce is a fighter who has proven he knows how to win in difficult political terrain.”

Stefanik, who represents New York’s North Country region, will also be joining a number of Republican lawmakers leaving the House, following in the footsteps of far-right representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who is leaving office in January. Stefanik said she would serve out the remainder of her term in Congress.

Trump had previously picked Stefanik to become the United Nations ambassador, but her nomination was suspended earlier this year amid concerns about the Republicans narrow majority in Congress.

In the House, Stefanik often clashed with speaker Mike Johnson in the months since.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, she called Johnson a “political novice” and said he “wouldn’t have the votes to be speaker” if representatives voted today. Earlier this month, she excoriated Johnson after a provision she championed was omitted from a defense authorization bill.