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Elise M. Stefanik

U.S. House · NY-21 · Republicans · since 2025

also

Candidate for U.S. House · NY-21

Target Elise

Biography

Overview

Elise Stefanik is a Republican U.S. Representative from New York's 21st congressional district, serving since 2015. Born July 2, 1984, in Albany, she graduated from Harvard College in 2006 and previously worked in the George W. Bush administration. At age 30, she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 2014. She served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2021 to 2025. In January 2025, President Trump nominated her as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but he withdrew the nomination in March due to concerns about the House Republican majority. She announced in late 2025 that she would not seek re-election to Congress.

Career

Stefanik was elected at age 30 as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 2014 with 55.1% of the vote. She gained national prominence in 2023 for aggressive questioning of university presidents during a hearing on antisemitism, which contributed to the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania's president. She was elected House Republican Conference chair in May 2021 after Liz Cheney's removal. She opposed Trump's first impeachment in 2019 and voted against accepting Pennsylvania's electoral votes in 2020. She championed the recruitment of Republican women to Congress through her leadership PAC, Elevate PAC, which helped elect 18 of 30 endorsed women in 2020. In 2017, she was one of six New York Republicans to vote against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, citing its impact on the state and local tax deduction. She voted for LGBTQ protections including the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, though she voted against the Equality Act in 2021 after supporting it in the previous Congress.

Prior political experience

Stefanik was first elected to the U.S. House in 2014 with 55.1% of the vote in the general election (defeating Democratic nominee Aaron Woolf with 33.8% and Green Party nominee Matt Funiciello with 11%). The 2016 election data provided shows her receiving 355,772 votes (30.8%) in the Federal General Election, though no opponent vote totals or percentages are listed. In 2014, she won the Republican primary with 60.8% of the vote against Matt Doheny (39.2%). New York's 21st congressional district had been held by Republicans for 100 years before Democrat Bill Owens won it in a 2009 special election.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal
Conservative
119th Congress+0.307

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
-0.109
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 293 scored votes

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Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
6thU.S. House NY-212025–presentIn progressElise M. Stefanik—
5thU.S. House NY-212023–2025Term endedElise M. StefanikElise M. Stefanik
4thU.S. House NY-212021–2023Term endedElise M. StefanikElise M. Stefanik
3rdU.S. House NY-212019–2021Term endedElise M. StefanikElise M. Stefanik
2ndU.S. House NY-212017–2019Term endedElise M. StefanikElise M. Stefanik
1stU.S. House NY-212015–2017Term endedPaul TonkoElise M. Stefanik

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
2024U.S. House NY-21Lost30.82%