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Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik announced her campaign to run for governor of New York in a video shared online Friday (November 7) targeting Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Stefanik, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, focused on affordability in the video, which referred to Hochul as the "worst governor in America."
"There's no question: New York is facing an affordability crisis," a narrator said.
The video also ties Hochul to Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist who defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo decisively to be elected the next mayor of New York City earlier this week, after she had previously endorsed his campaign.
"Kathy Hochul made New York the most unaffordable state in the nation, crushing families with sky-high taxes, unaffordable rent, soaring energy costs and record-high grocery bills, and cozied up to an anti-police, tax-hiking, anti-semitic communist," a narrator says in the video.
"With everything on the line, we need someone who will deliver results and make New York affordable and safe for families and small businesses," the narrator added. "Elise Stefanik will clean up Kathy Hochul's catastrophe and restore New York's greatness."
Stefanik is the first high-profile Republican to announce her campaign after months of speculation, having confirmed in April that she would make a decision after the 2025 elections following GOP Rep. Mike Lawler's announcement that he wouldn't run for governor. Trump reportedly convinced Lawler to instead stay in the House, which effectively cleared the Republican primary field for Stefanik.
Stefanik was previously nominated to be Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, however, the president withdrew her nomination following concerns that a competitive special election to replace her in Congress could potentially shrink the GOP's majority.