United Nations Ambassador-designate Elise Stefanik spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect

i24 News – Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a vocal and steadfast ally of Israel, officially announced on Friday her bid for governor of New York in the 2026 election, on the heels of the election of anti-Israel radical Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of New York City earlier in the week.

Her campaign announcement targeted incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, branding the Democrat the “worst governor in America.”

Stefanik slammed Hochul for the endorsement of Mamdani, saying Hochul “cozied up to a defund-the-police, tax-hiking, antisemitic Communist.”

“Our campaign will unify Republicans, Democrats, and independents to fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to save New York,” Stefanik said in a statement.

Stefanik, who is not of Jewish heritage, rose to national prominence condemning antisemitism since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and ensuing Gaza war. Her relentless grilling of university presidents about their complicity with or inaction against the climate of antisemitic intolerance on campuses was widely credited with precipitating the resignations of the top administrators at Harvard, U Penn and other Ivy League institutions.