A longtime senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump is wondering aloud about running for the House seat that Rep. Elise Stefanik will vacate when she resigns after Mr. Trump nominates her to be U.N. ambassador.
Dan Scavino said in a Truth Social post on Friday, “I wonder if heads would explode if I moved just a little bit north and ran in the Special Election for Elise Stefanik’s seat in NY-21 being she’s going to the United Nations.”
The Washington Times contacted Mr. Scavino for further comment. Mr. Trump has already announced that he is appointing Mr. Scavino as his deputy White House chief of staff in the new administration.
Mr. Scavino has known Mr. Trump since the 1990s, when he was a teenager who caddied for the avid golfer and future president. When Mr. Trump won the presidency in 2016, Mr. Scavino followed him to the White House as the president’s social media director.
After Ms. Stefanik has resigned, a special election date will be set for the House seat within 90 days of her departure.
After the special election date is announced by Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the county committee chairs of each political party will go through their respective processes to decide who will run for the seat.
The district, which Ms. Stefanik first won from Democratic hands in 2014, has a Partisan Voting Index rating of R+8 and includes the cities of Ogdensburg, Glens Falls and Plattsburgh, and most of the Adirondack Mountains.
Several other New York Republicans are eying New York’s 21st Congressional District to replace Ms. Stefanik. They include outgoing Rep. Marc Molinaro; state Sens. Dan Stec and Jake Ashby; Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin; Assemblyman Chris Tague; Assemblyman Robert Smullen and former television host and businessman Joe Pinion.
Anthony Constantino, an outspoken Trump supporter and CEO, has already formed a committee to run for the seat.
Democrats have also shown early interest in Ms. Stefanik’s seat, including her Democratic opponent in 2024, Paula Collins. Another Democrat reportedly being floated for the seat is Assemblyman Billy Jones.
Ms. Stefanik has not weighed in on a replacement, but the House Republican campaign arm is expected to spend heavily in this election to make sure the GOP can retain the seat and maintain its narrow majority in the lower chamber.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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