Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has announced she is dropping out of the race for governor of New York and will not seek re-election to Congress.
Her announcement comes days after Republican Bruce Blakeman, who like Stefanik is a close Donald Trump ally, said he intended to challenge her in the upcoming primary in the 2026 governor race.
Stefanik had announced her bid to challenge Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul in early November.
In a post on X on Friday, Stefanik said that while she believes she would have won the primary “it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted” campaign.
In the lengthy statement, she said she wanted time to focus on her family.
“I believe that being a parent is life’s greatest gift and greatest responsibility,” she said.
“I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don’t further focus on my young son’s safety, growth, and happiness – particularly at his tender age.”
Blakeman, a two-term Republican executive for Nassau County, in Long Island, New York, had announced his bid for governor earlier this month, setting up a primary clash with Stefanik.
A spokesman for New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s campaign on Friday said that Stefanik has “finally acknowledged” the reality that she would lose the race against her.
Ryan Radulovacki added that “Hochul’s message to him [Blakeman] or whichever lackey Trump picks to run against her is simple: Bring it on.”
President Trump had not taken a side ahead of the expected tough primary, telling reporters recently: “They’re both great people. We have a lot of great people with the Republican party.”
On Truth Social on Friday, he said Stefanik is “a tremendous talent” adding he is “with her all the way” regardless what she does.
Stefanik, 41, has represented New York’s 21st congressional district, which is north of Albany and includes the Adirondack Mountains, since 2014.
She has been a staunch ally of Trump, emerging as one of his most vocal supporters during his first impeachment in 2019.
For his second term, Trump initially nominated her for United Nations ambassador but withdrew her nomination due to considerations about the Republicans’ majority in the US House of Representatives.
The last Republican governor of New York, George Pataki, served until 2007.
By BBC News
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