NANUET — Rep. Mike Lawler has thrown his support to Republican colleague Elise Stefanik in her run for New York governor as she seeks to unite party leaders behind her and avoid a costly primary.
Lawler, who spent months weighing whether to make his own 2026 bid for governor before ruling it out in July, leads Rockland County’s Republican Party and was one of just six county GOP chairmen out of 62 in New York to withhold their endorsements when Stefanik launched her campaign on Nov. 7. The other 56 all backed her.
Lawler has now joined their ranks with fanfare, appearing beside Stefanik to announce his endorsement of her at a rally with Republican and Conservative Party officials on Monday, Nov. 24.
“Elise Stefanik is a champion,” Lawler told a sign-waving crowd at the Pearl River Elks Club. “She is a fighter for her district, for our state, for our country. She is someone who should not be underestimated, who has taken on tough fights. Ran when people thought it wasn’t possible to win. She won a seat in 2014 that was held by Democrats, and she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at that time.”
The rally comes as Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has been touring the state to meet with Republican leaders and test the waters for his own potential run for governor. If he enters the race, he and Stefanik — both of them ardent allies of President Donald Trump — would fight for the nomination in a June 2026 primary.
Blakeman won a second term on Nov. 4 by a big margin, and he has been touting his success with independent and some Democratic voters in suburban Long Island as a sign of his electability in heavily Democratic New York. No Republican has won a statewide office since 2002, when George Pataki won a third and final term as governor.
Stefanik promises “fresh approach” in Albany
In a nearly 10-minute speech after Lawler’s endorsement, Stefanik blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul as an “accidental governor” who took office after Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in 2021 and has since presided over a web of problems with crime, affordability, energy and anti-semitism. She labeled each a “crisis” for the state.
“We desperately need new leadership and a fresh approach, and a willingness to always put New Yorkers first,” she said.
Stefanik has been in Congress for 11 years and represents northeastern New York in the 21st Congressional District. She and Lawler have been House colleagues since he first won his Hudson Valley seat in the 2022 election.
In addition to Lawler, two other Rockland County Republicans endorsed Stefanik at Monday’s rally: County Executive Ed Day and state Sen. Bill Weber.
“We need someone in Albany who will be a fighter, who will be a check and balance on the crazy left that’s running the Senate and that’s running the Assembly right now,” Weber said.
How did Democrats and Blakeman respond?
Democrats reacted to the endorsement by calling Lawler a “lap dog” for Trump and recalling his own words in a June 4 radio interview, when he was still weighing his own prospects in the 2026 governor’s race. Lawler said then, in an apparent dig at Stefanik, that no Republican could win a statewide election in New York without winning independents and some Democrats — as he said he could do.
“You can’t win a statewide election in New York just by pounding your chest and saying that you’re the most MAGA candidate,” he said then.
Democrats detected a reversal by Lawler after his Stefanik endorsement on Monday, accusing him of “now rolling over for Trump and backing his ‘top ally’ in Congress.”
“Mike Lawler said it himself: Elise Stefanik is too extreme and tied to Donald Trump’s unpopular agenda to win a statewide race in New York,” Addison Dick, a spokesman for state Democratic Party, said in a statement.
Blakeman was undeterred by Monday’s announcement, saying afterward that he’s still weighing a run for governor.
“I have a lot of respect for both Mike and Elise, but the importance of the upcoming election requires the Republican and Conservative parties to pick the candidate with the best chance of winning for the benefit of the residents of the State of New York,” Blakeman said. “Therefore, at the urging of so many business and community leaders, I am continuing to explore a run for the governor myself.”
What did the latest poll say about the race and Hochul?
Hochul held a big lead of 20 percentage points over Stefanik in a Siena College poll released Nov. 18, the first taken since Stefanik formally entered the race. In prior Siena polls before Stefanik launched her campaign but seemed a likely candidate, Hochul led her in hypothetical matchups by 14 points in August and by 25 points in September.
The latest Siena poll showed Hochul with a 40-point lead among Democratic voters over Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, a fellow Democrat who has mounted a primary challenge against her and is running to her political left. The two would square off in next June for their party’s nomination.
Hochul’s standing with voters remains lukewarm, with 43% viewing her favorably and 45% holding an unfavorable view in Siena’s November poll. Her job approval rating was better: 52% of New Yorkers who were surveyed supported her performance as governor, while 43% didn’t.
Siena’s November poll didn’t test how Blakeman would fare in a primary against Stefanik or a general election against Hochul.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Lawler backs Stefanik governor run as possible GOP rival mulls primary
Reporting by Chris McKenna, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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