- While Rep. Elise Stefanik has not officially announced her candidacy, she is considering a run for New York governor in 2026, polling competitively against incumbent Kathy Hochul despite not having formally entered the race.
- The Tax Foundation ranks New York 50th out of 50 states in tax competitiveness, with particularly poor performance in individual income tax, property tax and sales tax.
- Stefanik cited New York's tax burden as a major reason why the state leads the nation in population exodus, ranking fifth highest in outmigration rates in 2024.
Amid falling approval ratings from New York’s current governor, Kathy Hochul, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Sunday Morning Futures she is considering a run for New York governor on Sunday.
President Donald Trump nominated Stefanik to serve as ambassador to the United Nations shortly after winning the presidential election last November, but he withdrew the nomination at the end of March to protect the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
If Stefanik can pull away from the gubernatorial election scheduled for November 2026 with a win, she will be the first Republican governor for New York in nearly two decades.
Stefanik sees New York tax code in major need of reform
“Look at the crises that single party Democrats have brought to New York,” Stefanik said Sunday morning. “We have an economic crisis and an affordability crisis.”
Stefanik claimed her state collects the most taxes from its citizens than anywhere else in the country, and in 2025, the Tax Foundation agreed that the taxation situation in New York is dire.
The Tax Foundation takes into account five components: corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes.
Given these measurements, New York fell 50th out of 50 states in their measurement, largely due to the state’s individual income tax. However, it also ranks poorly in terms of property tax and sales tax.
“We lead the nation in people who are leaving the state because it’s so unaffordable,” Stefanik said.
New York was indeed the state with the fifth highest exodus rates in 2024, as the New York Post reported earlier this year.
‘Hochul puts criminals first,’ Stefanik writes of current governor
In a statement posted on X, Saturday, the current representative justified her potential campaign as a needed response to Hochul’s “failed leadership.”
The statement stemmed from news that Eddie Matos, who threw NYPD cop Anthony Dwyer off a Times Square roof in 1989, would have his fourth parole hearing in two years.
“This is a disgusting betrayal of law enforcement and law-abiding New Yorkers,” Stefanik wrote. “Only in Kathy Hochul’s New York would such a vile criminal get another shot at freedom. Hochul puts criminals first and brave law enforcement and New Yorkers dead last.”
She added, “New Yorkers deserve a governor who backs our police and locks up violent offenders — not one who rolls out the red carpet for them.”
Stefanik polling competitively before an official campaign is announced
A poll conducted by GrayHouse showed Stefanik leading the Republican primary by 37 percentage points and trailing the current governor in the general election by 6 percentage points, per City and State NY.
“I’m honored to have the most robust, most significant donor base of any Republican ever in the state of New York, and it is time that we work together as a team to save this state from the catastrophic policies,” Stefanik said of her support from the state on Fox News Sunday Morning Features on Sunday.
State Assemblyman Chris Tague also told the New York Post that for a Republican to win the general election as governor, he or she would need to perform well in upstate New York, adding, “I think that she’s the candidate that could do that.”
“Everybody that knows me, that sees me, the first thing they say to me, ‘Please tell Elise to run for governor, please,’” Tague said.