Elise Stefanik- A Model For Upstate Republicans Navigating Trump Presidency By Luke Perry
Elise Stefanik (R, NY-21) is a bulwark of conservatism in New York as the state has turned deeper blue during the Trump presidency.
In 2014, Stefanik became the youngest woman elected to the House of Representatives, until Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) in 2018. Stefanik, an Albany native, previously worked in the Bush administration, upon graduating from Harvard, and the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, managing debate preparation for Paul Ryan.
Stefanik’s 15-point (32,190 vote) margin of victory in the 2018 midterm was tops among House Republicans throughout the state. New York’s small GOP delegation shrunk further with the defeat of Stefanik’s neighboring colleagues Claudia Tenney (NY-22) and John Faso (NY-19).
Photo by Erica Miller/Daily Gazette
NY-21 is a large, predominately rural and mountainous, North Country district with a sizable Republican registered voter advantage. Prior to the last midterm, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 48,227. Endorsements from the Conservative Party (6,703) and Independence Party (27,769) netted another 34,472 votes for Stefanik.
The Independence Party primarily endorsed Republicans in 2018, though included some Democrats, most notably, Governor Cuomo. Their endorsement was pivotal in close upstate elections, particularly for John Katko (R, NY-24) and Anthony Brindisi (D, NY-22).
President Trump’s first midterm was challenging for Congressional Republicans, including in more conservative upstate New York, where the president is unpopular, though this varies by district.
Stefanik pledged to support the Republican nominee prior to the 2016 election, absolving her from taking an explicit stand on Trump. Some upstate Republicans, including Reps. Katko and Faso, did not vote for him. Stefanik weathered a failed attempt by Carl Paladino, Donald Trump’s 2016 New York Campaign Chair, to recruit a primary challenger in NY-21 more supportive of Trump.
Stefanik voted against the president’s major legislative accomplishment, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, because the State and Local Tax Deduction “penalized” NY-21 taxpayers. Rep. Faso was the only other upstate Republican to oppose the bill.
Photo by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Stefanik was the only Republican to join Democratic women colleagues in wearing white to honor women’s suffrage during the 2019 State of the Union. Stefanik was the first woman to serve as recruitment chair for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Following poor results for House Republican candidates, including women, Stefanik developed a political action committee to support candidates during the primary, when the NRCC is typically not involved.
E-PAC seeks to “engage, elevate and empower” Republican candidates through fundraising support. Stefanik believes there is currently a “crisis level of Republican women in Congress,” who constitute less than 3 percent of the House.
“I have not seen evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. I support President Trump and I oppose impeachment.”
Stefanik has backed the president during the current impeachment inquiry. She also supported a resolution condemning Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, leading the inquiry.
Stefanik has emphasized the seriousness of impeaching a president and stated there was nothing illegal about the president’s phone call with Ukraine’s president or public comments to China regarding investigating Joe Biden. “It is illegal for any elected official to ask for help from a foreign nation,” Stefanik explained in a recent town hall, “that’s not what we’re seeing in this case.”
Stefanik has positioned herself as a voice for farmers and military personnel, advocating for better milk prices for dairy farmers and quicker benefits for veterans. Stefanik belongs to the Armed Services Committee (Fort Drum is located within the district), the Education and Labor Committee, and the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Stefanik considers herself a bipartisan leader in protecting the environment. She opposes the Green New Deal, because it is too costly and “would stop people from drinking milk and eating meat,” but wants further exploration of renewable forms of energy, which create “huge opportunities” for NY-21.
“I hear from farmers who say, ‘We just want a fair playing field, and we want an opportunity to sell our products at fair market value.’”
Stefanik believed her double-digit margin of victory in 2018 reflected “cross-party support.” Her current term is the first she has served in the minority. Stefanik suggested this would not be an issue due to her “very strong record of working across the aisle.” According to FiveThirtyEight, Stefanik voted with the president just 57 percent of the time in current 116th Congress, down from 89 percent during the 115th Congress.
At a moment when the New York Republicans at the state and federal level are regrouping following a slew of electoral defeats, Stefanik has retained her seat for three cycles across multiple administrations and put herself at the forefront of national efforts to elect Republican women.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College
