New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik Is Running For Governor

Just as the people of the Empire State have wrapped up election season, another one is already starting to heat up.

After millions of New Yorkers went to the polls to vote in local and county elections across the state, one Congressional Representative from New York announced that she is throwing her hat into the race for New York's top elected position.

When the next election comes around on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, there will be at least two very well-qualified women running for control of the Empire State

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik Is Running For Governor

On Friday, November 7, 2025, New York's Representative to Congress from the 21st District, Elise Marie Stefanik, announced that she was running for Governor of New York against incumbent Kathy Hochul and that she was seeking the Republican nomination.

Stefanik, who was born and raised in the Albany, New York, area, went to school in the Capital region before attending college at Harvard University. Rep. Stefanik has also taken classes at the Naval War College.

After college, Stefanik worked in the administration of President George W. Bush as a member of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council, along with working with Rep. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney during the 2012 Presidential election cycle.

Stefanik, who currently lives in Schuylerville, ran for Congress in 2013 for New York's 21st Congressional District, which covers the Adirondack Mountains, the Thousand Islands region of the state, along with Fort Drum, Plattsburgh, Glens Falls, and Rome. She's represented this area of New York in Congress since 2014.

I am running for Governor to bring a new generation of leadership to Albany to make New York affordable and safe for families all across our great state... Our campaign will unify Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to Fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to Save New York. Elise Stefanik - Candidiate for Governor of New York State

With Stefanik's announcement, the race for Governor of New York in 2026 is on. More than half of New York's county Republican leaders have publicly announced support for her run, so the path to getting the Republican nomination is looking quite clear.

If elected next year, she will be the first Republican Governor in New York since George Pataki was elected to his third term in 2002.