Elise Stefanik set to seize Democratic stronghold as she stuns on-air with new ‘MAGA look’

Elise Stefanik, one of the rising stars of the MAGA movement, may be readying a run to challenge unpopular New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a race that could shake up the country.

A source close to the Congresswoman told reporters Wednesday that she was considering making a play. Stefanik put out a statement slamming Hochul’s performance, weak poll numbers and saying she could ‘WIN AND SAVE NEW YORK.’

Stefanik also sported what some observers called a ‘new look’ and a ‘MAGA makeover’ in appearances on Fox News that was celebrated by conservatives and loathed by the left. 

She made her biggest overtures speaking forcefully about Hochul’s failed leadership at the New York State GOP gala on Tuesday.

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for mayor of New York City who was in attendance for the address, said Stefanik ‘eviscerated’ the Democrat and called it ‘a great opportunity to test out a campaign speech. 

‘[She] brought down the house,’ Sliwa told DailyMail.com. ‘Ten percent of her speech was about DC and obviously she had to give up being US ambassador to the United Nations. The other 90% was clearly her campaign speech against Kathy Hochul.’ 

He called it ‘fiery’ and ‘nonstop’ and warned candidates thinking of challenging her on either side of the party. 

‘If she’s serious, she’s gotta’ be the odds on favorite.’

One person in agreement may just be Donald Trump, who posted to Truth Social Wednesday morning: ‘Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is GREAT!!!’ 

Stefanik, a close ally and fierce defender of the president, had been nominated to represent the US at the United Nations. 

But her nomination was pulled last month amid concerns about leaving a Republican House seat vacant when the party has such a narrow majority in the chamber.

Stefanik, who represents a sprawling congressional district in northern New York, released a statement Wednesday afternoon that didn’t address a potential run for governor but lambasted Hochul as the ‘Worst Governor in America’ and said ‘we must FIRE Kathy Hochul in 2026 to SAVE NEW YORK.’

If Stefanik does enter the race, she might face off in a Republican primary against Rep. Mike Lawler, who has been teasing a run for several months.

The last Republican governor in New York was former Gov. George Pataki, who served three terms and left office almost two decades ago. 

Lee Zeldin, current head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and former congressman from Long Island, mounted a serious challenge to Hochul in the governor’s race in 2022, nearly landing what would have been a major upset in the heavily Democratic state.

Asked by reporters about a possible Stefanik candidacy, Hochul said, ‘No matter the GOP nominee next year that I’ll be running against, it’s going to be an extreme MAGA Republican, and I look forward to that fight.’

Hochul’s recent polling has been disastrous – a majority told a Marist University survey that they don’t want her to run again and her approval ratings are underwater – and she herself is expected to face a contested primary. 

Her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, earlier this year announced he would not run for reelection alongside the governor next year, hinting instead at his own gubernatorial candidacy. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres is also rumored to be considering a run and has emerged as one of the governor’s most pronounced Democratic critics. 

‘New York Republicans can’t field a serious candidate from their pathetic crew of Trump minions. New Yorkers want nothing to do with the clown show of Trump loyalists who are only focused on enabling Trump’s agenda that is raising costs, gutting health care, and attacking New Yorkers’ freedoms,’ State Democratic Party spokesperson Addison Dick told DailyMail.com in a statement. 

Stefanik served as the House Republican Conference chair from 2021 to 2025, but she did not seek to return to the position having been nominated to serve in the Trump administration.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has spoken about bringing Stefanik back into leadership. 

Stefanik has represented New York’s 21st Congressional District since 2015, which includes a mostly rural region in the northernmost part of the state. Prior to her 2014 victory for the open seat a decade ago, the district was represented by a Democrats.

Her rise was fueled by her performance blasting elite university presidents over their handling of campus antisemitism in hearing just months after Hamas’ attack on an Israeli music festival. 

She may just be bringing that same attitude to a challenge to win back an office Republicans haven’t held since 2006. 

‘When she takes aim at you, as we saw those chancellors of the various universities, that she eviscerated, she took aim at Kathy Hochul and completely eviscerated her,’ Sliwa noted.

Stefanik was first elected in 2015, after the party’s so-called ‘woman problem’ was well-documented in the Republican National Committee’s 2012 post-election report, which suggested that the party was completely out of touch with female voters.

It helped spawn a program instituted by House Republicans last summer, Project Grow, which renewed focus on recruitment, training and fundraising for promising female candidates nationwide. 

Stefanik is among the program’s beneficiaries, who are spread across the country, and is viewed by many as being an example of what young women working within the party can achieve.

She routed Paula Collins by 24 points in November of 2024 to win a sixth term in Congress.