Stefanik Says She Will Win N.Y. Governor's Race Behind Common-Sense Coalition

Rep. Elise Stefanik, who announced earlier this month that she is running for governor of New York, said that she will defeat Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul by building a "common-sense" coalition.

The Republican congresswoman told Fox's "Sunday Morning Futures" that she will emerge victorious in next year's election "by having a coalition of Republicans, independents, and Democrats who want common sense and who want to make New York affordable and safe again."

Stefanik insisted that, "Kathy Hochul is the worst governor in America. New York ranks No. 1 when you consider how unaffordable New York is ... And it is a result of Kathy Hochul's single-party Democratic rule," which she said has dominated the governor’s office for two decades.

Stefanik said, "It took less than one week for her to completely flip-flop and raise taxes on New Yorkers when we are facing an affordability crisis."

The congresswoman also said, "We know that Kathy Hochul will bend the knee to Zohran Mamdani," who will become New York City's mayor on Jan. 1. Hochul "already did so in her endorsement. In the course of that primary, she legitimized his candidacy. She did not condemn a single statement he made, whether it was his smears of NYPD [New York Police Department], whether his calls to abolish private property, or whether it's his commitment to raising taxes."

Stefanik added, "In terms of removing Mamdani from office, of course that's in the New York State Constitution, and I will follow the Constitution.” 

The congresswoman said, "There is not a single region of New York state where the people of New York support Kathy Hochul ... they do not want to see New York state fall to communism."

• Stefanik Launches Campaign for New York Governor, Blasts Hochul as 'Worst in America'
• N.Y. Gov. Poll: Stefanik, Hochul Locked in Tight Race