U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik said she’s as confident as ever in her campaign’s strength as she continues to run for re-election to New York’s 21st Congressional District.
Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday night that issues like inflation, gas prices and economic stress have been at the top of voters’ minds as she’s traveled the district, and she has worked to lead the Republican response on those issues. As the House Republican Conference Chair, Stefanik is in charge of messaging and media preparations for Republican representatives.
“Nationally, I was the leader in making sure the Republicans were focused like a laser on inflation,” she said. “I do the grocery shopping in my family, and I started seeing those prices tick up, and for families in my district it’s absolutely unaffordable.”
Stefanik continues to blame President Joe Biden for the dramatic increase in prices over the last year.
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She recently introduced the “Reining in Inflation Act” to Congress, which would require the Biden administration provide a public financial assessment of all executive actions it takes, measuring the expected impact the action will have on inflation.
Energy costs
Gas and fuel prices also have skyrocketed in recent months, hitting nearly $5 per gallon for standard gas last month. Prices have started to drop, but Stefanik said the Biden administration needs to authorize more energy extraction projects to raise domestic production of fuel.
Republicans have been unified in their messaging on this issue, calling for more leases for drilling on federal land, while the president has said there are already thousands of unused leased sites available to drill and has criticized the oil companies for refusing to increase production themselves and “making more money than God,” off of oil scarcity.
Stefanik and a group of House GOP members have introduced a package of bills that would require the Biden administration to evaluate U.S. fossil fuel resources, develop a security risk assessment for each country the U.S. imports fuel from and plan a strategy to encourage more domestic fuel production. The bill would also mandate at least two lease sales per year of federal lands in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska for oil and gas harvesting and prohibit future moratoriums on lease sales.
Stefanik said she’s also continually concerned about security at both the northern and southern borders, which she said are closely related.
“The border crises on our southern border has an impact, as I’ve talked before, many of our border patrol officers have been transferred over and over and over again to the southern border, and frankly that leaves us without the personnel we need on our northern border,” she said.
The congresswoman has long advocated for the U.S. to shore up the southern border, supporting former President Donald Trump’s border wall and technological advancements.
Stefanik proudly ‘Ultra-Maga’
On the topic of Trump, Stefanik recently proclaimed she was “proudly Ultra-MAGA” after President Biden used the term to criticize Republicans who continue to ally themselves with the former president. It refers to the “Make America Great Again” slogan most recently adopted by Trump, which has gone on to become a rallying cry among Trump-aligned conservatives.
Stefanik, who has grown from a quiet critic of Trump in the early years of his presidency to one of his closest allies in Congress, said she is proud to continue her close relationship with Trump.
She said support for Trump among her constituents has grown at the same rate. This has gone from a district that Obama won twice to one that went overwhelmingly for Trump.
With the recent redistricting of the nation’s congressional districts now complete, Stefanik said the new NY-21 has even more support for Trump than the old one.
She said anyone using “Ultra-MAGA” as a derogatory term isn’t paying attention.
“Just drive around the district, you see Trump 2024 signs. You see anti-Biden signs all over the district,” she said.
On Jan. 6 riot
In her run for re-election, Stefanik has been opposed by two Democrats; Matthew Putorti, a Whitehall, Washington County native and corporate lawyer, and Matt Castelli, a former CIA officer and counterterrorism official. Both have criticized her for her public statements about Jan. 6 and the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.
The congresswoman, who was one of the Republicans who voted to reject Pennsylvania’s slate of presidential electors, has said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., bears responsibility for the attack, which perpetrated by supporters of Trump who were trying to prevent the certification of Biden’s win.
Stefanik has criticized the Jan. 6 House Committee for failing to talk about Capitol security, and has called into question why Speaker Pelosi hasn’t turned over records regarding her direction over Capitol Police in the days leading up to Jan. 6, 2021.
Speaker Pelosi has no day-to-day oversight of the Capitol Police — the Speaker bears the same amount of responsibility over Capitol security as the Senate Majority Leader, which was Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the time. Speaker Pelosi has called the Republican criticisms of the Jan. 6 Committee “debunked lies.”
“They aren’t focused on how to secure the Capitol. They’re not focused on how they can ensure the Capitol Police have the support they need moving forward,” Stefanik said. “So it’s a sham, it’s an attempt to distract.”
Castelli specifically has made Jan. 6 a core part of his campaign. He declared his candidacy in the months following the attack, and likened the event to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Castelli joined the CIA and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and has said the Jan. 6 attacks inspired him to run for Congress in much the same way.
Stefanik has said likening the two attacks is “disqualifying” for any candidate for Congress, and said Castelli is out of touch.
“I was actually in the Capitol as a member of Congress on January 6, and I condemn the violence and the destruction,” she said.
She said it appears that local Democrats are attempting to “rig” the race for Castelli, who has received broad support from local Democratic leadership and has even gone on to secure a guaranteed third-party line in the general election.
“They are trying to shield one Democrat to try and make him the nominee, and that’s frankly not fair to voters in the district,” she said.
The congresswoman said regardless of what happens on the Democratic side of this race, she is confident she will continue to enjoy broad support from the district’s voters.
“Local Democrats are in freefall. They have put up all sorts of candidates against me over the years to try to make this race close, but it has never been a close race,” she said. “I will continue to work hard to deliver results for this district.”
Stefanik has no opponent on the Republican side of the race, and so in November will face off against whichever Democrat wins that party’s primary election at the end of August. She could possibly face both Castelli and Putorti in November, should the latter win the Democratic line.
