Democrats and Republicans in New York await Governor Kathy Hochul’s verdict on the special election to fill the seat to be imminently vacated by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. At stake is a shrinking House majority on the GOP agenda.
The Committee in the Senate voted 19-3 to approve the new ambassador to the U.N. but lacks final approval. Stefanik’s resignation would create an imbalance in control of Republicans in the House, who currently count a razor-thin majority of 218 to 215.
Under the current rule, from the time of Stefanik’s resignation, Governor Hochul has 10 days to call a special election and 70 to 80 days to hold it. This way, the vacated House seat could be filled between April and May.
Democrats have proposed merging the special election to replace Stefanik with the Primary Election in June or Election Day in November when the new mayor of New York City will be elected. The goal would be “to increase voter turnout and reduce the administration cost.”
Republicans have protested that to delay the special election, and thus leave a GOP seat vacant for several months, is a Democratic Party strategy to slow down the Trump administration’s agenda and have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a corruption and conspiracy investigation into Hochul and her colleagues should the governor decide to approve the rule.
