Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R, NY-21) is making a special visit to Western New York on Monday, as many Republicans believe she is the top candidate to challenge Kathy Hochul in the gubernatorial election next November.
Erie County GOP Chair Michael Kracker says Stefanik has become a national star.
"Taking down the anti-Semitic leadership at some of America's most prestigious universities, a proven fighter who knows how to deliver and appeal to independent voters." said Kracker in an interview with WBEN. "She's done that in her Congressional district, winning huge margins with independents and converting some Democrats. And she excites our Republican base in a big way, and it's great to have her coming out to Western New York to support our Congressman Nick Langworthy (R, NY-23)."
If Stefanik is run for governor, both her and Gov. Hochul would not be candidates from Downstate New York or Albany. Kracker feels that it is a huge positive.
"Elise Stefanik is very familiar with Western New York. She's very familiar with the issues that matter to us," Kracker said. "She represents a border district, we're a border town. She represents a district that's been hit hard by the out migration of people and jobs, just like here in Western New York."
Kracker spoke with other Republicans in New York who are energized to support Stefanik, and hopeful the party can deliver her Erie County to help her bid tp win and become the next governor of New York.
Political analyst Carl Calabrese thinks Stefanik has the ability to provide an alternative to a state that has not had a Republican governor since George Pataki in 2007.
"We continue to lose Congressional seats every 10 years because our population is going down. It's going down because the state is poorly run, it's poorly managed, and we're taxing good people, good businesses out of New York. And you can only do that so long before the weight of what's left behind just can't be sustained anymore," said Calabrese with WBEN. "There's not enough people paying the bills, so I think she would provide an excellent alternative, a Republican alternative, to a free market system. To encouraging businesses and employment and economic growth that you're just not getting out of the Democrats who just see government as a solution for everything, and usually it just ends up causing more problems and spending more money."
With Gov. Hochul looking to win her second term as governor in 2026, Calabrese feels she is not the same as she was during her run in 2022. He also believes Hochul is no longer a true Western New Yorker.
"The Kathy Hochul that's in the governor's office today, I don't recognize anymore as a Western New Yorker, philosophically," Calabrese explained. "This is Kathy Hochul, who was a fiscal conservative when she was on the Hamburg Town Board. She refused to give driver's licenses to illegals when she was County Clerk, and when she was in Congress, she had a 93 rating from the NRA. That Kathy Hochul is gone, unrecognizable now. Even though she may be physically from Western New York, philosophically, she's not one of us anymore."