The first, the version that features in her stump speeches, is that of an outsider, someone born and raised in upstate New York who was the first in her immediate family to go to college, whose parents built their family-owned plywood business from scratch. There are two ways you can slice Elise Stefanik’s biography. Why did she do it? And what does Stefanik’s transformation tell us about the future of the Republican Party-and, with it, the viability of American democracy? Her ascent through the ranks raises the question of whether there is any future for conservative politicians who try to resist its riptide. With the midterm elections less than six weeks away, Stefanik’s political evolution offers a lens into the powerful forces that have shaped the Republican Party. She has continued to amplify unsubstantiated claims of voting irregularities and, with Trump’s endorsement, succeeded in ousting conservative grandee Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference chair in May 2021, becoming the third-most-senior member of the party in the chamber. 6, 2021, Stefanik cemented her loyalty to the outgoing president when she voted to overturn the results of the presidential election. Hours after Trump’s supporters rampaged through the halls of Congress on Jan.
“It’s like the prom queen gone bad,” said a former Democratic congressional aide who knew the congresswoman, and who requested anonymity to speak candidly. Stefanik’s office did not respond to multiple requests for an interview or comment for this piece.
Her political evolution may not have been unique, but Stefanik’s change in tone and positions has been the subject of fascination and bewilderment among former friends and colleagues, including some who championed her early rise. In this way, the representative for New York’s 21st Congressional District has proved a bellwether for the Republican Party. Over the course of the next several years, Stefanik evolved from a proud moderate to a devout acolyte of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” platform.
#One more rep the ascent full#
“I have full faith and confidence in the outcome of the election in this district and across the country and I would urge candidates across this country to accept the outcome.” Stefanik had spent much of the October 2016 debate asserting her independence as a candidate, and she cited her bipartisan record in Congress and appeared unfazed when asked about Trump-his offensive remarks about women and, perhaps most significantly, his unfounded allegation that the upcoming vote would be rigged against him.
At a time when the party sought to reach a younger and more diverse pool of voters, she was hailed as the future of the Republican Party. It was just two weeks before an election that would horrify and electrify the country, and the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was an unavoidable topic.Īt 30 years old, Stefanik had been the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress in 2014. Elise Stefanik took to a debate stage in upstate New York, seeking a second term to represent her district in the U.S.
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