Rep. Elise Stefanik to announce run for New York governor as soon as Friday
NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, a top ally of President Donald Trump's on Capitol Hill, will soon announce she is running for governor to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul next year, according to four people briefed on her plans.
Stefanik, whose representative did not respond to a request for comment, could announce the bid in a video as early as Friday, and has informed allies of her plans to seek New York's highest office.
Stefanik has relentlessly attacked Hochul in the run up to her long-awaited announcement, which she said would not come until after this week's election.
She could face a spirited primary from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who said Wednesday he was also considering a run after winning reelection.
The announcement comes days after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor, and is expected to be a target of Stefanik as she attempts to tie him to Hochul.
Stefanik, who was briefly nominated for a position as UN ambassador by President Trump earlier this year, has called Mamdani a "communist," among other attacks, and blasted Democrats "radical" agenda in Albany.
The upstate New York congresswoman, a one-time staffer for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign who helped Paul Ryan prepare for his vice-presidential debate, gained prominence in the MAGA movement during the first Trump administration, as a vocal defender of the president on the House Intelligence Committee during Democrats' first impeachment inquiry in 2019.
New York last elected a Republican governor in 2002, when George Pataki won a third term in office.
ABC News contributed to this report.
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