Hochul Vs. Stefanik — And The 2026 Governor Race Starts…Now!

By Shmooze News

Brooklyn, NY — Just after Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was elected, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a close ally of President Trump, announced she would be running against Governor Kathy Hochul in the 2026 Governor’s race.

Rep. Stefanik launched her campaign with a post on social media, calling Hochul—a Democrat, who endorsed Mamdani against her former boss Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race—“the worst governor in America,” a line Republicans have been calling her for months.

“Under her failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery bills,” Stefanik said on X. “When New Yorkers were looking for leadership from our Governor, she bent the knee to the raging Defund the Police, Tax Hiking Communist causing catastrophe for New York families.”

“I am running for Governor to make New York affordable and safe for all.”

Responding to the attacks by Stefanik, Hochul went to social media, “Elise Stefanik is more than just Trump’s ally. She’s voted with him 100% of the time this year. She owns this shutdown. She owns the fact that 3 million New Yorkers are trying to figure out how to feed their families. That’s Sellout Stefanik.”

In the 2022 gubernatorial election, GOP nominee Lee Zeldin (who is now Trump’s EPA head) ran up the numbers against Hochul, losing by just 6%. In 2024, Trump improved his vote share from 38% in 2020 to 43%. Now with Mamdani coming onto the stage—and with Hochul’s low polling numbers—Stefanik and New York Republicans are hoping the political winds will change over the next 12 months against New York Democrats.

Axios reported that Stefanik’s play is to tie Hochul to Mamdani. “Stefanik’s team says the strategy is aimed at winning over independents and moderate Democrats who may be alienated by Mamdani’s brand of democratic socialism.

In the mayoral race, Mamdani barely passed 50% of the vote (for reference, Mayor Adams won 66.99% of the vote in 2021). “Stefanik’s campaign argues, is an indication that in Democratic-friendly New York City — which in 2024 accounted for more than one-third of the statewide vote — there are a swath of voters who are unfavorable toward Mamdani and could turn on Hochul.”

Stefanik is the first high-profile Republican to launch a campaign, and she’s been weighing a run for governor for months. In May 2025, Stefanik said she would announce her decision after the 2025 elections. Indeed, it didn’t take long to announce it, days after the mayoral election.

In July, Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents the Jewish communities in Rockland, said he won’t run in the gubernatorial race. (Reports say that President Trump convinced Lawler, who represents a swing district, to stay put in the House, effectively clearing the primary field for Stefanik.)

“While I fundamentally believe I am best positioned to take on Kathy Hochul and offer New Yorkers a real choice for governor,” Lawler told The New York Times in an interview. “I have made the decision to run for re-election to the House and continue the important work I’ve been doing over the past two and a half years.”

However, Stefanik’s first rival might be Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is also mulling a bid for the Governor’s Mansion in Albany.

“The party must nominate the candidate with the best chance to defeat Kathy Hochul, and I have been urged by business, community and political leaders across the state to make the run and I am seriously considering it,” Blakeman said in a statement.

But for Governor Hochul it won’t be an easy election season. For one, Hochul faces a primary challenge from Antonio Delgado—her own lieutenant governor!

Among the many challenges Hochul faces until November are twofold. She must balance both the new socialist mayor, who wants the Governor to sign on to his new policies, like rising taxes and free buses. If not, the mayor (and his allies )may make the Governor “pay” in the primaries (maybe AOC will jump into the race). She also needs conservative Democrats for the primaries, as well as independent voters for the general election, if she faces Stefanik or another GOP nominee.

& let the 2026 political games begin!

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