NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Republican US Representative Elise Stefanik is inching closer to running against Governor Kathy Hochul next year, saying the Democrat’s endorsement of Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor has created an opening.
“This mayor’s race had a number of twist and turns,” Stefanik, 41, said in an interview Tuesday. “If Mamdani wins, New Yorkers are going to look for a check — a Republican governor.”
Hochul last month endorsed Mamdani, a 33-year-old assemblyman who won an astonishing victory in the June Democratic primary for mayor. Stefanik, a close ally of President Donald Trump, said Mamdani’s failure to endorse Hochul in return was evidence of her weakness as governor.
“What a slap in the face,” Stefanik said.
An internal poll commissioned by Stefanik and carried out late last month found Hochul leading by 5 points in a hypothetical matchup, with 48% support. The survey, conducted by Republican-aligned pollster GrayHouse, found Stefanik led among both GOP and independent voters.
“Kathy Hochul is a deeply underwater and deeply embattled incumbent in a state that outnumbers Republicans by Democrats 2 to 1,” Stefanik said.
Hochul’s backing of Mamdani, a democratic socialist who has campaigned on a platform of raising taxes to pay for ambitious social programs, marked a break from other major Democrats who have so far declined to endorse him.
While Stefanik hasn’t formally announced her candidacy for governor, she said she would make a decision after the New York City mayoral election next month.
“I’ve been very clear. I am likely to run,” Stefanik said.
Hochul, 67, served as lieutenant governor under former Governor Andrew Cuomo. She became New York’s first female governor when Cuomo resigned in August 2021 after facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which he has denied. She won election in 2022 against former US Representative Lee Zeldin by a 6-point margin — a narrow victory in a state where registered Democrats significantly outnumber Republicans.
A Siena Poll conducted in September found Hochul likely to beat Stefanik by 52% to 27%. That same poll found that among voters statewide, 38% of respondents had an unfavorable view of Mamdani, while 32% had no opinion of him. It also found 45% of New Yorkers have a favorable view of Hochul, compared with 42% who had an unfavorable view.
A Harvard graduate, Stefanik won her first race as a 30-year-old in 2014, making her at the time the youngest woman elected to Congress.
Asked for comment, Hochul campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika called Stefanik a “sellout” and said the congresswoman is “so scared to face Governor Hochul she’s made up a new opponent – anything to hide her extreme record of gutting New Yorkers’ health care, jacking up prices, and throwing her constituents under the bus to serve Donald Trump.”
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