Latest news with #EliseStefanik
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Stefanik to make gubernatorial run decision in November
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, who has been teasing a run for governor in 2026, said Wednesday she will make a 'final decision and announcement' after this year's Nov. 4 election. She made the announcement shortly after Hudson Valley Republican Rep. Mike Lawler announced he will not run for the seat. 'Mike Lawler is a great, effective and hardworking representative for New York's 17th Congressional District and is committed to protecting the House Republican Majority,' Stefanik said in a statement. She began hinting at a gubernatorial run this spring, shortly after her nomination to become President Donald Trump's United Nations ambassador was pulled by the White House. She has been critical of Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul from the start, but has ramped up the frequency of her statements on the head of the state in the past few months. While not officially announcing her candidacy, she's all but committed to the race. 'I am focused on supporting strong Republican local and county candidates on the ballot this November to lay the groundwork with a strong team for next year,' Stefanik said. 'Republicans are more unified than ever in our mission to fire the Worst Governor in America Kathy Hochul in 2026.' For now, she said she's focused on this year's election cycle. Stefanik has been particularly invested in New York City's mayoral election. She blames Hochul for New York City Democratic voters picking Zohran Mamdani as their candidate for the mayor's election this year following last month's primary against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Stefanik calls Mamdani a 'radical Communist Defund-the-Police Antisemite.' She also said New Yorkers are 'fleeing' the state because it is the highest taxed state in the nation, and blamed Hochul for the Saturday shooting of a Customs and Border Protection officer. 'A CBP officer was just brutally shot in the face by an illegal in NY due to dangerous sanctuary state laws,' Stefanik said. The off-duty officer, who is recovering in a hospital, was shot in what officials are saying was an attempted robbery. The suspects — Cristhian Aybar-Berroa and Miguel Francisco Mora-Nunez — are undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for robberies and kidnappings numerous times in the past year and had been ordered to be deported. Polling Recent polling from the firm co/efficient shows Stefanik in a clear lead for Republican candidates — with 64% of GOP support, 56 percentage points ahead of the next Republican. Polling from Siena College earlier this month showed Stefanik as a clear favorite for New York Republicans, with 35% favoring her as their candidate, compared to 18% favoring Lawler. This poll also found Hochul leading Stefanik in a general election by 23 percentage points. Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy pointed out, though, that 16 months in politics is 'many lifetimes away.' 'I am grateful for the outpouring of support across our great state from Republicans, Independents and Democrats who know it is our last best chance to Save New York,' Stefanik said. Hochul's own Lieutenant Gov. Antonio Delgado is also mounting a campaign to primary her on the Democratic line. This Siena College poll found Democrats 'overwhelmingly' favor Hochul to Delgado, 49% to 12%. In the last gubernatorial election in 2022, then-Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-Long Island, put up a tight race with Hochul, coming away with 47.15% of the vote to her 52.85%. George Pataki was New York's last Republican governor, serving three terms between 1995 and 2006. Solve the daily Crossword
Epoch Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Stefanik, Issa Reintroduce Bill to Ban Handgun Roster Restrictions in States
The restrictions make it challenging for firearm manufacturers to introduce new models, the lawmakers said. Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) have reintroduced the 'Modern Firearm Safety Act,' which aims to prevent states such as California and New York from restricting gun access to citizens, Stefanik's office said in a July 24 statement If passed, states and agencies would be banned from imposing regulations that require a handgun to incorporate a design feature, functionality, safety mechanism, or performance standard not mandated by federal statute, the bill states When state or local governments impose requirements that a handgun model incorporate features not present on the model, it can artificially inflate prices, according to the bill. Story continues below advertisement Such measures 'present safety concerns by altering the intended design and function of the affected models; violate the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and pose an unacceptable restraint on interstate commerce,' the bill states. According to the July 24 statement, the bill will prohibit states from 'enacting unconstitutional 'handgun rosters' that prevent law-abiding citizens from accessing modern, safer handgun models and require firearm manufacturers to adopt costly and unnecessary features, making it nearly impossible to sell new handguns.' A handgun roster refers to a list of handguns that have been approved for sale within a specific jurisdiction based on meeting safety and restrictive requirements. For instance, a handgun roster in California requires that a gun model in the state must pass certain tests and be certified for sale by the state's Department of Justice before it can be sold. At present, New York, Maryland, California, and the District of Columbia have enacted 'restrictive handgun rosters,' with other states considering similar measures, according to the statement. Story continues below advertisement Due to these stringent standards, firearms sold to people include 'costly and unnecessary features' such as magazine disconnect mechanisms, loaded chamber indicators, and microstamping technology, and these requirements are making it nearly impossible for gun manufacturers to introduce new handgun models to the market, according to the statement. Microstamping technology causes a firearm's firing pin to imprint microscopic characters onto ammunition cartridge cases when a gun is fired, according to a July 18 statement from the California Attorney General's office. These characters represent the weapon's make, model , and serial number. As such, when law enforcement finds cartridge cases at crime scenes, they can check the imprinted code and identify the firearm. The Modern Firearm Safety Act would prohibit states from mandating loaded chamber indicators, magazine disconnect mechanisms, and microstamping for handguns, a move that will restore the Second Amendment in states with such restrictive gun regulations, according to the lawmakers. Story continues below advertisement A visitor picks up a revolver at the Charter Arms booth at the 2025 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits held in the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., on April 25, 2025.'For decades, the clear Constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners have been targeted for elimination, and handgun rosters are only one of the cynical schemes used to undermine the Second Amendment through the pretense of firearm safety,' Issa, who first introduced the bill last year, said. 'These rosters impose excessive and unnecessary requirements that actually restrict access to firearms equipped with the most up-to-date safety features, and that's why I'm proud to partner with my friend Rep. Stefanik to defend sacred rights and end these unjust restrictions.' Protecting Gun Rights The Modern Firearm Safety Act also coincides with a ruling from a federal district court, which judged California's handgun roster requirements to be unconstitutional, according to the July 24 statement. In March 2023, District Judge Cormac Carney issued a ruling in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) and four individuals who had challenged the constitutionality of California's Unsafe Handgun Act. Story continues below advertisement Enacted in 1990, the legislation required new handguns to have three specific features: loaded chamber indicators to show whether the gun is loaded, magazine disconnect mechanisms to prevent the gun from being fired if the magazine is not fully inserted, and microstamping capability. The reintroduction of the Modern Firearm Safety Act comes amid the Trump administration's efforts to protect Second Amendment rights in the country. On Feb. 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for a review of orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other government actions related to the Second Amendment between January 2021 and January 2025, the period of the Biden administration. In late March, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an interim final rule taking over from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives the responsibility of deciding whether to restore gun ownership rights to individuals whose Second Amendment rights were revoked by a court. The DOJ recently proposed a rule to restore Second Amendment rights to individuals convicted of certain crimes who are not likely to act in a way that poses a danger to public safety. 'For too long, countless Americans with criminal histories have been permanently disenfranchised from exercising the right to keep and bear arms—a right every bit as constitutionally enshrined as the right to vote, the right to free speech, and the right to free exercise of religion—irrespective of whether they actually pose a threat,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a July 18 statement.
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Rep. Lawler: Trump Preferred I Stay in House
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) discusses his decision to run for re-election and not run for Governor of New York, and states that while ultimately it was his own decision President Trump also preferred he stay in the House of Representatives. Lawler also talks about whether his House colleague Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) should jump into the NY governor's race, how he keeps his district, and what priorities will be discussed for the potential second reconciliation package. Rep. Mike Lawler speaks with Joe Mathieu and Tyler Kendall on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawler won't run for New York governor; Stefanik plans to announce after November election
Jul. 23—Rep. Mike R. Lawler will not run for governor of New York next year, clearing the way for Rep. Elise M. Stefanik to potentially clinch the Republican nomination without a primary. After months of teasing a potential run, previously pledging to announce a decision in June that did not come on time, Lawler announced on Wednesday morning that he wouldn't be seeking higher office next year and would instead run for reelection in his Hudson Valley swing district. "I've decided that the right thing to do for me, my family and my district is to run for re-election," he told the Fox network. That clears the way for his leading opposition for the GOP nomination — Stefanik. Lawler has previously said he would not push the party into a primary, which would force the two candidates to compete for conservative votes, commit to conservative positions and spend significant sums of money before starting the real competition against the Democratic candidate. In a statement shortly after Lawler's announcement went wide, Stefanik lauded Lawler as an "effective and hardworking Republican for New York's 17th Congressional district" and said she would announce her own plans once this year's general election is over. "I am focused on supporting strong Republican local and county candidates on the ballot this November to lay the groundwork with a strong team for next year," she said. "I will make a final decision and announcement after this year's November election which we are all focused on." Stefanik has been similarly teasing a potential run for the seat, but she has gained more traction than Lawler. While the Hudson Valley congressman has been relatively quiet in his positioning, meeting behind closed doors with Republicans and only infrequently criticizing Democratic Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul, Stefanik has had much higher profile visits and hosted a press conference after meeting with the state Republican delegation earlier this year. Stefanik has criticized Hochul far more frequently than her supposed competition for reelection in the 21st District. And in perhaps the most significant sign that Lawler wouldn't be running for governor, President Donald J. Trump endorsed him for reelection to the House earlier this year. Lawler met with Trump again last week ahead of his announcement. Nassau County Executive Bruce R. Blakeman has also considered a run for governor, but has far less name recognition and fundraising prowess than Stefanik does. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is headed into a likely primary between Hochul and her Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado. In early polling, it appears Hochul is likely to ignore Delgado's challenge and forge ahead to a victory. Hochul and her team seemed to revel in the news Wednesday. "Of course he doesn't have the spine to face me," Hochul said on X, formerly Twitter. In a separate post, Hochul showed an image of a Milk Bone dog treat box, adorned with a sticky note with Lawler's name on it. "A treat for Donald Trump's good boy," the post reads.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
New York Republicans Unite in Attacking Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani may well be far out of sight, visiting family in Uganda some 7,000 miles from New York City. But he is clearly not far from the minds of Republicans. On Wednesday, within a matter of a few hours, Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, was targeted by two prominent Republican House members in New York and the New York Young Republican Club. Representative Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents a crucial Hudson Valley swing seat, introduced a bill called the MAMDANI Act, an acronym that stands for Measuring Adverse Market Disruption And National Impact. The bill is aimed at studying the effect of Mr. Mamdani's proposal for five city-owned grocery stores. 'Zohran Mamdani's push for government-owned grocery stores is straight out of the Marxist playbook, and history shows exactly how this experiment ends,' Mr. Lawler said, arguing that the candidate's 'socialist fantasies' would fail. Mr. Mamdani has proposed creating one municipal grocery store in each borough to help lower prices for shoppers. The stores could help reduce costs by using city land or buildings, buying food wholesale and receiving an exemption from property taxes. An hour earlier, Representative Elise Stefanik, a fellow New York Republican and close ally of President Trump, issued a drive-by attack on Mr. Mamdani, warning that a 'radical communist defund-the-police antisemite may be elected mayor of New York City.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
