It’s not out of the realm of possibility for two right-wing candidates to split their base enough for a Democrat to prevail, though it’s a longshot in Stefanik’s heavily Republican, upstate New York district.
Still, Republicans in Washington can afford few missteps with a thin majority and a candidate in Florida, Randy Fine, being outraised by his Democratic challenger ahead of an April 1 special election for another GOP-favored seat.
New York state special elections are not open primaries. Instead, both the Republican and Democratic candidates are chosen by the district’s 15 county party chairs.
Meanwhile, Republicans have also been concerned that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul could seek to slow-walk the election, leaving Stefanik’s seat open for as long as possible if she ascended to the Trump administration.
Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Stefanik for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Trump said in his announcement on Thursday that Stefanik would rejoin the House GOP leadership team, after she declined to run for another term as House GOP Conference chair to join the administration.
“Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People. Speaker Johnson is thrilled! I look forward to the day when Elise is able to join my Administration in the future,” he wrote.
It’s not immediately clear what kind of role she could have, however, given that her prior spot is now occupied by Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich.
Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for comment.
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