Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is leaving Congress at the end of her term, after a shock decision to end her campaign for governor while acknowledging she had no path to win next year — and longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon is beside himself over it, The New York Times reported on Friday evening.
“Elise needs to keep her seat and challenge Mike Johnson immediately,” Bannon said, per The Times, adding that Stefanik was “one of our real warriors.”
Even with Stefanik on the way out, observers have speculated she does indeed at least plan to clash with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), as the two have increasingly been at odds in the last month over various issues about the GOP caucus.
Stefanik, The Times noted, began her career in Congress as a relatively moderate lawmaker, but pivoted hard around the time of President Donald Trump's first impeachment, becoming a hardcore MAGA loyalist who served in House leadership. But she ultimately had little to show for it, briefly being nominated as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations before being withdrawn over fears her upstate New York seat could be hard to defend in a special election.
"To detractors, Ms. Stefanik’s shoddy treatment by the president amounted to karmic comeuppance for a Republican lawmaker who came to Congress as a Harvard-educated moderate but tacked unapologetically to the MAGA right when it suited her political purposes. They said she personified the opportunistic shape-shifting that gripped her party," said the article. "Her tumble from grace crystallized the limits of MAGA loyalty and the risks of building a political identity around Mr. Trump, who can turbocharge or torpedo a career — sometimes both. Once one of the president’s most stalwart defenders, Ms. Stefanik, who referred to herself as 'ultra MAGA' and styled herself after Mr. Trump, ultimately found herself undermined by him and politically adrift."
In her retirement announcement, Stefanik framed the exit from Congress as a move to spend more time with her family.
"While many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom," she wrote. "I believe that being a parent is life's greatest gift and greatest responsibility. I will feel profound regret if I don't further focus on my young son's safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age."
With Stefanik out of the race for governor, the sole candidate on the GOP side to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
