Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s designation as the House GOP Conference leader elevated her national prominence earlier this year. With Republicans still hoping to secure the House majority, officials at the local level say Stefanik’s standing will benefit New York’s 21st District.
Now set to enter her fifth term, Representative Stefanik casts herself as someone who stands up for her district against the Democratic powers that be.
The Republican who has campaigned on “firing” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also no stranger to weighing in on state government, where Democrats control all levels.
Speaking to her supporters on Election Night in Glens Falls, Stefanik said her time in Congress has brought results back to the North Country.
“We’ve solved over 13,000 constituent casework, delivered $600 million in federal funding to our district, recovered $5.5 million in VA benefits, over $3 million of Social Security benefits, countless passports, all of that constituent services which is so important every day…”
Stefanik faced some criticism during her campaign against Democrat Matt Castelli for celebrating federal funding for the district that she voted against in the House. But that didn’t stop voters from giving her a nearly 20-point victory Tuesday.
Also appearing on stage were Matt Simpson, a Republican elected to his second term in the State Assembly after running unopposed in the 114th District, and State Senator Dan Stec, who handily defeated Democratic challenger Jean Lapper in the 45th.
Prior to his election to the Senate two years ago, Stec served four terms in the Assembly.
The Republican said he and Stefanik are “each other’s eyes and ears” on state and federal issues in their overlapping districts.
“She’ll get calls in her office that are really state issues and they toss them over to us. And likewise, we’ll get calls on various issues – veterans’ issues or just federal issues – and I’m not in a position to help them but I am in a position to pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, Elise, you need to hear this person’s story, it’s interesting.’ Or, ‘Hey, who is the right person in your office to put this person in connection with?’”
North Country Republicans have banded together against Democratic priorities in Albany, notably bail reform and the state’s latest gun control measures.
Another speaker at Stefanik’s watch party was Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino.
The Republican who has also served as a judge and district attorney said Stefanik’s leadership position in a House majority would open up new federal grants for his office.
“So a lot of the grants that come through the feds, to the state, the Department of Homeland Security, we get a share of those, proportionate. The grants I’m talking about, there’s some competitiveness for smaller agencies like mine,” said Giardino.
The sheriff said his and other departments are facing staffing shortfalls as personnel retire or leave to go to other law enforcement agencies that offer better pay.
“Two things that would help is if we had a state standard or a national standard of 20-year-retirement for police and a salary that is kind of fixed, instead of working for a village or a city, and then the sheriffs. The sheriffs make $20,000 less than the State Police on average, and so there’s an incentive for them to leave the sheriff’s [office]. The city PD’s make more than sheriffs or towns or village, so we lose a lot in that manner,” said Giardino.
Officials hope that a shift to GOP control of the House would mean more attention to rural districts that have long complained about New York City’s outsize influence.
