Overview
- At the Zionist Organization of America gala in Manhattan, Elise Stefanik accepted the Maccabee Warrior Award days after launching her 2026 New York governor campaign.
- In her speech, she criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul for endorsing New York City mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani, labeling him “a raging antisemite” and accusing him of sympathies with Hamas.
- Stefanik cited recent antisemitic incidents, including a swastika painted outside a Brooklyn yeshiva after the election, which both Mamdani and Hochul publicly condemned.
- Hochul’s team responded by accusing Stefanik of hypocrisy and of weaponizing Jewish concerns, pointing to her past ties to figures who praised Hitler, according to a state Democratic spokesman.
- Stefanik framed her run as a moral fight focused on combating antisemitism and public safety, and she pledged to end bail reform, expand affordable housing, and impose fiscal restraint in Albany.