'Messed up': Elise Stefanik's governor campaign stumbles at the gate with 'botched' site

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has officially launched her campaign for governor of New York — but almost immediately, it got off to a rocky start as when her campaign website first went live, it was riddled with errors, incomplete, included nonsensical and placeholder text, and the images were from her congressional campaign rather than her new gubernatorial campaign.

As of press time, Stefanik's website has been updated and appears to now be filled out with correct text, sections, and images — but the first iteration, launched before being fixed, was promptly spotted by a number of Democratic campaign officials and broadcast to resounding mockery on social media.

"'Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet,'" noted New York Democratic Party rapid response director Addison Dick on X, indicating the stock Latin placeholder text on the landing page. "Nice website! @EliseStefanik's botched launch continues." He added, "It's not just Latin – Stefanik's botched website also features classic 'American values' like: 'Family first trust'; 'Will alternative'; 'Legacy planningegal issues.'"

"Really messed up campaign website for Team Stefanik. She’s been teasing this run for months!" wrote Watertown Daily Times reporter Alex Gault, who covers local news in Stefanik's congressional district.

"Elise Stefanik had 6 months+ to plan today's launch and her website still isn't done," wrote Democratic Governors Association communications official Kevin Donohoe.

"10/10 work here by Stefanik," wrote Gov. Kathy Hochul's communications director, Sarafina Chitika.

Stefanik, who was previously considered for a Trump administration ambassadorship before being dropped over concerns about holding her seat in a special election, is hoping to build on the 2022 gubernatorial contest, when Trump-loyalist Congressman Lee Zeldin, now administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, held Hochul to an unexpectedly close single-digit race.