I’ve had the good fortune of knowing Representative Stefanik for several years now, along with having a front row seat to watching her grow from a first-time candidate for public office into the leader she is today. I can say with full confidence that she is exactly the person we need to help retake the Majority and grow our Republican Party.
Stefanik’s meteoric rise as a Republican star on the national stage is driven purely by skill and mettle. It was of no surprise to those of us here in New York who know her best. But the media and the political pundits who are in overdrive to make this leadership fight solely about the 2020 election are living in the past. The rest of us are focusing on the future, which is exactly what Rep. Stefanik represents.
There is no question that today’s Republican Party has been transformed under President Trump. He reestablished our Party as champions of the working class, ushering in the America First agenda that concluded the costly policies of free trade and endless wars. It was a marked and dramatic shift from the policies of the Bush-Cheney era and attracted millions of new voters to the Republican Party. There isn’t a Republican I speak to from Madison Avenue to the streets of Buffalo who doesn’t recognize that as a tremendous accomplishment deserving of the utmost protection.
Elise brings to the table a unique ability to bring together all facets of the Republican Party and connect with voters from all walks of life. She is a millennial woman who comes from a small business family in rural Upstate New York, earned a degree from Harvard and has shrewdly navigated the choppy waters of both Washington and New York politics. She is an effective communicator and the battle-tested leader we need as we face the greatest fight of my lifetime: stopping the radical left from transforming America.
However, this is about much more than ideology, it’s about action. Elise is a team player who puts her money where her mouth is to help grow the Republican Party. Most politicians, when confronted with newfound notoriety and fame, use it to bolster themselves. Elise harnessed it to help elect more Republican women.
In 2018, Stefanik successfully recruited more than 100 women nationwide to run for Congress, a record-breaking number. She then launched her hugely successful E-PAC, supporting 228 female congressional candidates in the 2020 cycle and helped increase the number of Republican women serving in Congress from 13 to 35.
In addition to crushing her own reelection with nearly 60 percent of the vote and helping elect more women across the country, she also never forgot her own backyard and supported down-ballot candidates in her district and across New York. She has deftly taken on powerful political adversaries, such as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and helped expose him on the national stage for his numerous scandals involving corruption and abuse. The left has spent millions trying to stop her to no avail.
Those are exactly the qualities we need in our Republican leadership ranks right now. She comes to the table with the energy, vigor and passion that are prerequisites for success. When she sees a void, she works to fill it-- no questions asked. She produces results. Now, we need her to take on her greatest challenge yet, which is to help ensure that Republicans retake the Majority in 2022 and Nancy Pelosi is retired as Speaker. The future of our Party, and our nation is on the line.
Nick Langworthy is the Chairman of the New York Republican Party. Elected at 39 years old, he is the youngest-serving state chairman in New York’s history.
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