NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s unfazed by a potential challenge from Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 2026 governor’s race, saying, “Bring it on!”
Hochul, who is running for a second term, was asked on CNN on Sunday if she's concerned about Stefanik. She said she's not because President Donald Trump has hurt the part in New York.
“Donald Trump has made sure that the Republican Party brand is so tainted in New York that 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—all to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest,” Hochul said.
The governor added: “I look forward to that fight. No matter who it is—it’s not settled yet—but I say, ‘Bring it on!’”
Stefanik reacted to a clip of the interview Monday, again calling Hochul “the worst governor in America” and adding she's “the biggest drag on the ballot in the state of New York.”
“Virtually every Democrat candidate and incumbent knows and acknowledges it,” Stefanik wrote on X. “Even Hochul’s own political and consulting team has privately communicated this behind the scenes.”
Sources told Bloomberg last month that Stefanik is weighing a run in the 2026 governor's race. Stefanik, 40, represents a mostly rural area of upstate and has is a major supporter of Trump. She was tapped to be Trump's ambassador to the United Nations before that plan was scrapped to protect the Republicans' slim majority in the U.S. House.
A Siena College poll of registered New York voters last month found 48% approve and 45% disapprove of the job Hochul's doing as governor.
“For the first time since January 2024, Hochul has a positive – barely – favorability rating, and for the first time since February 2024, a plurality of voters approves of the job she is doing as governor,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said