Elise Stefanik criticizes Hochul over affordability and Mamdani in campaign launch for NY governor
Elise Stefanik at the annual CPAC DC conference at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill
By David Wright, Gloria Pazmino, CNN
(CNN) — Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik announced her campaign for New York governor on Friday with a video seizing on the issue of affordability and attacking Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul for her support of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, declaring that “the Empire State has fallen.”
“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” a narrator says in the video, leaning into cost-of-living concerns that dominated Tuesday’s off-year elections.
The campaign launch quickly turned to criticizing Hochul for backing Mamdani in the high-profile, contentious mayoral race. Flashing images of Mamdani on the screen, the video claims Hochul “cozied up to a defund-the-police, tax-hiking, antisemitic Communist.”
It’s an early test of Republicans’ ability to leverage Mamdani, a self-identified democratic socialist, as a motivating factor for their side – particularly for Stefanik who would need to work with the mayor if elected governor, setting up a potential collision course.
In the weeks leading up to her widely anticipated campaign, Stefanik had escalated her criticism of Hochul, regularly attacking the incumbent over her decision to endorse Mamdani.
Stefanik has also seized on Hochul’s stewardship of public safety, criticizing her approach to immigration enforcement and crime. In a congressional hearing in June, the pair clashed over President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to California.
But even as a close Trump ally serving in House GOP leadership, Stefanik made no mention of the president in her launch video as she hopes to put the gubernatorial office in play in the Democratic stronghold.
President Donald Trump cut his margin of defeat in New York by about 10 points between his 2020 and 2024 White House campaigns, but Republicans have not won there statewide since 2002. Stefanik will be further challenged in a midterm cycle historically unfavorable to the president’s party, with Trump’s approval hitting a second-term low in a recent CNN national poll.
Still, with more than a combined $13 million cash on hand, Stefanik has tapped a number of former Trump advisers and longtime aides who worked in finance, communications and operations roles to help launch her campaign.
And Stefanik enters the GOP primary as a heavy favorite, with a top potential rival, Rep. Mike Lawler, having been persuaded by Trump to remain in the narrowly divided House rather than create an open seat in his battleground district.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
