Scoop: Stefanik set to launch bid for N.Y. governor in '26

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik has built out an extensive political team as she prepares to launch a 2026 campaign for New York governor in November, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Stefanik, one of President Trump's most prominent backers on Capitol Hill, is looking to become the first Republican to be elected New York governor in more than two decades.Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is up for reelection in next year's midterms.Zoom out: Stefanik has told associates she plans on entering the governor's race soon after the New York City mayoral election Tuesday.Stefanik has more than $13 million in cash on hand — more than any other New York House Republican in recent history — and is hiring a slate of veteran political operatives as she seeks to be New York's first GOP governor since George Pataki:Alex DeGrasse, Stefanik's longtime top political lieutenant, will be the campaign's chief strategist and CFO.Patrick Hester, Stefanik's chief of staff, also will be involved.Stefan Mychajliw, who worked on Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign last year, will be director of rapid response.Stefanik also has tapped several top Trump advisers. Tony Fabrizio, who was chief strategist on Trump's 2024 campaign, will be her pollster.Chris Grant, who ran the main pro-Trump 2024 super PAC, will be an adviser.Tim Saler, another Trump 2024 campaign official, will oversee Stefanik's voter micro-targeting efforts.Zoom in: Stefanik's team thinks she has a shot at winning in mostly Democratic New York partly because the state shifted further rightward than any other state in the 2024 elections. Trump got more than 3.5 million votes in New York, more than any GOP presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1988.Trump received 800,000 more votes than Republican Lee Zeldin got in 2022, when Zeldin lost the governor's race to Hochul. Stefanik's campaign will put a premium on voters who backed Trump but not Zeldin, a person familiar with the campaign says.Stefanik's team also is betting that her focus on combating antisemitism will help her in a state with the nation's highest concentration of Jewish residents — more than 8% of the population.Jewish voters have historically backed Democrats, but polls last year suggested Trump made significant gains with them.Stefanik drew national attention during a House hearing in 2023, when she confronted several college presidents about antisemitism on their campuses.In April, Stefanik is publishing a book titled "Poisoned Ivies," about "far-left indoctrination" on college campuses.Her team believes some New York voters will turn on Democrats after democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is elected New York City's mayor next week, as those in both parties expect.Hochul endorsed Mamdani in September.Behind the scenes: National Republicans earlier this year embarked on a polling project aimed at deciding who'd be the strongest GOP opponent to Hochul, according to two people familiar with the effort.They considered Stefanik, Rep. Michael Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Stefanik fared the best.Lawler later announced that he'd be run for reelection next year, after being nudged in that direction by the White House.Blakeman hasn't said whether he'll run for governor.The backstory: Trump picked Stefanik to be UN ambassador after winning the presidency last year.But he later withdrew the nomination amid concerns that, with House Republicans hanging on to a slim majority, he'd need Stefanik's vote to pass his "big beautiful bill."The other side: "Elise Stefanik has spent her career in D.C. selling out New Yorkers to Donald Trump -- and that is why she is going to lose to Kathy Hochul," said Kevin Donohoe, spokesperson for the Democratic Governors Association."Whether it's her votes to help Trump gut Medicaid or raise costs, Stefanik and her record could not be more toxic with New York voters," Donohue said. "Bring it on."

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