Once Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., vacates her seat to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has 10 days to set the date for a special election to replace her in the House.
The special election must be held within 70 to 80 days afterward, and there are already a number of possible contenders reportedly being considered to claim New York’s 21st Congressional District.
Stefanik won a sixth term to represent the district which encompasses North County, New York, but President-elect Donald Trump chose her this week to fill the U.N. ambassadorship in his new cabinet.
Republican names being floated include state Sen. Dan Stec, who represents portions of St. Lawrence County and other eastern regions of the state; state Assemblymen Robert Smullen and Christopher Tague; and Rensselaer County Executive Steven McLaughlin, according to WWNY. Possible Democratic candidates include Assemblyman Billy Jones, whose state district falls just east of St. Lawrence County, as well as past unsuccessful challengers to Stefanik such as Matt Castelli and Paula Collins.
Stefanik won 62.27% of the vote last week against Collins, who garnered just 37.73%, according to The Associated Press.
Stefanik has built up a national profile as an unwavering ally of Trump and as a sharp-tongued Republican voice. First elected to Congress in 2014 at age 30, she eventually shed her early reputation as a moderate Republican and rose to become the highest-ranking woman in the House Republican leadership. Stefanik represents a largely rural northern New York district that includes some of the most sparsely populated parts of the state.
Democrats in New York unseated three first-term Republican incumbents in the U.S. House last Tuesday, as voters in the Empire State were expected to play an outsized role in helping determine control of the House.
Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump following the 2020 election.
There will also be a separate contest to replace Stefanik as the House Republican Conference chair.
Stefanik’s grilling of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests in the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah continues.
Stefanik, who served as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Intelligence Committee, and the Education and Workforce Committee, released a statement Monday afternoon following her nomination to Trump’s cabinet.
During a conversation with Trump, Stefanik said she shared ‘how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination and that I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the United States Senate.’
‘President Trump’s historic landslide election has given hope to the American people and is a reminder that brighter days are ahead – both at home and abroad,’ she said. ‘America continues to be the beacon of the world, but we expect and must demand that our friends and allies be strong partners in the peace we seek. The work ahead is immense as we see antisemitism skyrocketing coupled with four years of catastrophically weak U.S. leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries.’
The congresswoman said she stands ready to advance Trump’s ‘restoration of America First peace through strength leadership on the world stage on Day One at the United Nations’ and thanked her ‘beloved constituents in New York’s 21st Congressional District for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to work my very hardest to serve and give them a voice at the highest levels of Congress.’
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
