After Trump Withholds Endorsement, Stefanik Suddenly Bails On NY Gov Bid And Congress Too

In a surprise move, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik has not only pulled the plug on her recently-launched gubernatorial campaign, but will also refrain from seeking reelection to the US House. The decisions cap a year in which the ardent backer of Donald Trump has been through a hot-and-cold relationship with the mercurial president that’s seen him first cancel her nomination to serve as UN ambassador and then fail to endorse her in the governor’s race. 

Stefanik dropped the big news in a lengthy afternoon post on X. Key excerpts:  

“While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress… While we would have overwhelmingly won this 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 Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York… 

While many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom. I believe that being a parent is life’s greatest gift and greatest responsibility… 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.”  

The 41-year-old Stefanik was first elected to Congress in 2014, after her campaign as a moderate helped her flip her upstate New York seat back into the GOP column — taking it from a Democrat who’d ruined a Republican winning streak in the district that spanned a century. As Trump’s first term unfolded, Stefanik strayed from the moderation of her campaign and increasingly aligned herself with Trump, calling herself “ultra MAGA.” 

Stefanik’s national profile surged in December 2023 with her heated grilling of the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT, who she accused of tolerating antisemitism on their campuses amid protests over Israel’s devastation of Gaza following the Oct 7 Hamas invasion of Israel. Critics contended that Stefanik wielded a false definition of “antisemitism,” equating common pro-Palestinian slogans — such as “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea” — with “calling for the genocide of Jews.” Regardless, Stefanik’s questioning of the university presidents was enormously impactful: Video of her histrionic performance went viral, and Penn president Liz Magill and Harvard president Claudine Gay both announced their resignations within weeks. 

She was poised to rise to even greater visibility when Trump nominated her to serve as ambassador to the UN in his second term. Stefanik’s Zionist credentials made her a perfect fit for that role, which, even more so in a Trump administration, disproportionately centers on advancing the Israeli agenda. However, in March, Trump yanked her nomination over concerns that pulling her from Congress would endanger the GOP’s thin House majority. Compounding the gut-punch, by that time, Stefanik had already resigned as chair of the House GOP caucus — the fourth-ranked Republican slot in the House.  

More indignities awaited. When socialist New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani visited the Oval Office in November, a reporter referenced Stefanik’s condemnation of Mamdani as a “jihadist” and asked Trump if he agreed. Trump disagreed, praising Mamdani as a “very rational person…a man who really wants to see New York be great again.” 

Q: Stefanik has called Mamdani a ‘jihadist.’ Do you think you’re standing next to a jihadist right now?

TRUMP: No, I don’t. I met with a man who’s a very rational person pic.twitter.com/DrdUFhwNHX

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 21, 2025

Next came an in-person White House embarrassment. Last month, Stefanik announced her candidacy for governor, in a bid to oust Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul. Long Island Republican Bruce Blakeman, also a Trump ally, then announced his own candidacy. Last week, with Stefanik standing next to Trump, reporters asked him about the contest. Trump merely said Stefanik has “got a hell of a shot at it...she’s got a little competition with a very good Republican, but she’s a great Republican, so we’ll see what happens.” Earlier in the month, when asked if he had a preference, he merely said, “They’re both great people.” 

A December Siena College poll had Stefanik trailing Hochul by 19 points. Stefanik’s favorability rating was a lousy 22% against 33% unfavorable. Her departure from the governor’s race comes after she raised more than $12 million for the bid. It’s not clear what she’ll do with that cash horde. She could refund it to her donors, but under federal law, she has other options, like reallocating money to other candidates or PACs, or keeping it for a possible future run at another office.