Rep. Elise Stefanik says she is dropping out of the New York governor’s race, and will not seek reelection to Congress.
Stefanik sent a statement in a tweet just before 4p.m. Friday announcing her decision.
“As we have seen in past elections, 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,” she wrote.
Stefanik, a close ally of President Donald Trump who represents New York’s sprawling 21st Congressional District, announced she was running for governor 42 days ago.
Since announcing her candidacy, however, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman joined the race, and Trump has not publicly endorsed either candidate.
“[Stefanik is] a friend, [Blakeman is] a friend. These are two great people running. I hate to see them running against each other. I hope they’re not going to be damaging each other,” Trump recently said.
In the latest polling in the race, Siena University found Hochul maintained a double-digit lead over Stefanik and Blakeman in a hypothetical general election matchup.
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