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Key Trump ally jumps into New York governor’s race days after shocking Mamdani mayoral victory

Key Trump ally jumps into New York governor’s race days after shocking Mamdani mayoral victory

Rep. Elise Stefanik will officially launch her long-anticipated campaign for New York governor on Friday, entering the 2026 race as a Republican challenger to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, multiple sources confirmed to Fox News on Thursday. Stefanik, a top House Republican and one of former President Donald Trump’s closest allies, represents a conservative-leaning district in upstate New York and has been weighing a gubernatorial run for months. “It will be very, very soon and people are very excited,” Stefanik said Thursday in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” “There’s been an outpouring of support from Republicans, Democrats, independents, all across our great state,” Stefanik touted. “Many Democrats who previously supported Kathy Hochul are lining up in support.” STEFANIK WRITING NEW BOOK AMID GUBERNATORIAL RUN BUZZ Stefanik, a member of the House Republican leadership, for months has repeatedly charged that Hochul is “the worst governor in America.” And Stefanik has blasted Hochul over the governor’s endorsement earlier this autumn of Zohran Mamdani, who this week was elected mayor of New York City.  REPUBLICANS AIM TO LINK VULERNABLE DEMOCRATS TO MAMDANI “People are looking for strong, commonsense leadership to be a check on this radical insanity that we’re seeing play out in New York City with Zohran Mamdani as a tax-hiking, defund the police, antisemite socialist,” Stefanik said in her Fox News interview, again linking Hochul to the progressive mayor-elect. Stefanik, who once criticized Trump, has since become one of his staunchest defenders in Congress. After Trump’s White House victory last year, he briefly considered naming Stefanik U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but ultimately backed off amid concerns that her departure would shrink the GOP’s razor-thin House majority. It has been more than two decades since a Republican last won a New York gubernatorial race. The last was former Gov. George Pataki’s re-election in 2002. COULD THIS TRUMP ALLY BREAK THE GOP’S 20-YEAR LOSING STREAK IN THIS KEY STATE? Hochul, meanwhile, could face a tough re-election fight. A former lieutenant governor, Hochul took office in 2021 after Democrat Andrew Cuomo resigned amid multiple scandals. She defeated then-Rep. Lee Zeldin by just over six points in 2022 to win a full four-year term. But Zeldin’s showing was the best by a Republican gubernatorial nominee since Pataki won re-election to a third term in 2002. Meanwhile, Trump, who lost New York by 23 points in the 2020 presidential election, trimmed his deficit by 10 points last November. Hochul, a moderate Democrat from Buffalo, is facing a primary challenge from New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, in a very rare move by a lieutenant governor to primary challenge a sitting incumbent. Stefanik is expected to hammer Hochul as she focuses her campaign on the issue of affordability. “People are very concerned about affordability and I have a strong record of delivering for families,” she highlighted in her Fox News interview. And she charged that Hochul had made New York “the most unaffordable state in the nation. We have the highest taxes, the highest energy prices, the highest utility prices, the highest grocery prices, and rent that continues to skyrocket.” Democrats notched double-digit victories this week in New Jersey and Virginia, emphasizing affordability as a top issue. Stefanik said those results show Republicans must put forward a clear economic vision. “You have to have a vision, and you have to put forth policies to make your state affordable again,” she said. “We are going to win the affordability message because her [Hochul] record is making it the most unaffordable state in the nation.” But New York State Democratic Party Spokesperson Addison Dick charged that “Elise Stefanik is a rubber stamp in Washington for Trump’s deeply unpopular agenda that is raising costs, gutting health care, and defunding New York schools, hospitals, and police.” And Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Kevin Donohoe charged that “from gutting health care to backing cost-raising tariffs, Stefanik’s record as Trump’s cheerleader in chief could not be more toxic with New York voters.” Earlier this year, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York seriously mulled a run for governor. But Lawler announced in July that he would seek re-election and forgo a gubernatorial run. Stefanik, however, has already begun assembling a seasoned campaign team that includes veteran Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who served as chief pollster for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. But Stefanik may not have the Republican nomination to herself.  Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Trump ally who was re-elected this week, may be eyeing a run for governor, GOP sources in New York confirmed to Fox News.

Left-wing candidate who lashed out at GOP senator with death threats failed to advance in local race

Left-wing candidate who lashed out at GOP senator with death threats failed to advance in local race

The Helena, Montana city commissioner candidate who made headlines for lobbing threats and wishing a painful cancer death on Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., in an expletive-filled voicemail, failed to crack the threshold of the top 2 candidates. Haley McKnight made national headlines earlier this week after audio of her voicemail she left for the senator in July came to light. The voicemail came from over the summer, shortly after Sheehy voted with his Republican colleagues to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping tax and spending package from Republicans that angered many Democrats, including McKnight, following its passage.  “Hi, this is Haley McKnight. I’m a constituent in Helena, Montana,” McKnight started off in her voicemail, a recording of which was obtained and verified by Fox News Digital. “I just wanted to let you know that you are the most insufferable kind of coward and thief. You just stripped away healthcare for 17 million Americans, and I hope you’re really proud of that. I hope that one day you get pancreatic cancer, and it spreads throughout your body so fast that they can’t even treat you for it.” WHAT JAY JONES’ VICTORY MEANS FOR DEMOCRATS AND THE ‘NEW ERA OF VIOLENT RHETORIC,’ ACCORDING TO EXPERTS The anger didn’t stop there, either. During the roughly minute-long voicemail that phone logs reportedly show came on the afternoon of July 1, McKnight launches into insults about Sheehy’s fertility and his children, before warning the senator not to “meet me on the streets.” “I hope you die in the street like a dog,” McKnight continued. “One day, you’re going to live to regret this. I hope that your children never forgive you. I hope that you are infertile. I hope that you manage to never get a boner ever again.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, McKnight questioned the timing of her voicemail’s release, but Sheehy’s office told a local news outlet it had not been aware of the threatening voicemail sent to them over the summer until just recently. As the headlines documenting McKnight’s expletive-filled voicemail reverberated nationally, she was gearing up for a local election Tuesday night alongside all the nationally recognized races that took place that day, including the race for Virginia and New Jersey governor, which both saw Democratic Party victories. And it wasn’t just those two races – Democrats saw a blue wave Tuesday with victories in all the high-profile races, as well as most of the lesser-known ones too.  VIRGINIA SLAMMED FOR ‘TRULY DEMONIC’ ELECTION THAT EXCUSED POLITICAL VIOLENCE TO SPITE TRUMP, CRITICS SAY  But that blue wave wasn’t enough to carry local candidates like McKnight to victory. She garnered only 20% of the vote, falling in third among a field of four candidates. Those who beat McKnight to obtain the two city commissioner seats up for grabs were Melinda Reed and Ben Rigby. Reed obtained 36.5% of the vote, while Rigby garnered 31.2%. The candidate who came in fourth garnered 11.5% and write-ins got 0.52% of the vote.  Speaking to Fox News earlier in the week about her voicemail, McKnight answered “no comment” when pressed if she stood by her rhetoric. She did note that her intention was not to threaten, or hurt, the senator, but added that she believed her rage was justifiable. “I wanted to drive home the struggles that people that I know are going through because of his policies. I think people were kind of shocked at my specificity, but these are things that are affecting people in my community,” McKnight told Fox News Digital, adding that Sheehy was spending too much time blocking the release of “the Epstein files” as opposed to understanding the struggles Montanans are going through.  Fox News Digital reached out to McKnight to inquire about whether she thought her voicemail had any impact on the outcome of her election. Once again, McKnight replied, “No comment.”

State Department revoked more than 80K nonimmigrant visas this year, including 8K student visas

State Department revoked more than 80K nonimmigrant visas this year, including 8K student visas

The Trump administration said it has rescinded tens of thousands of nonimmigrant visas since January, pointing to criminal activity as the primary reason. The State Department announced Thursday that 80,000 visas have been revoked this year, noting this is more than twice the number revoked last year. More than 8,000 student visas were among those affected. LABOR UNIONS SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING OF VISA HOLDERS The top reasons for these revocations were assault, theft and driving under the influence, according to the State Department. These three crimes accounted for nearly half of the revoked visas this year. The agency said it pulled more than 16,000 visas for DUIs, more than 12,000 for assault and more than 8,000 for theft. “Promises made, promises kept,” the State Department wrote on X, adding that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “will always put the safety and interests of the American people first.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO VET LEGAL IMMIGRANT APPLICANTS FOR ‘ANTI-AMERICANISM’ AND ANTISEMITISM The State Department may revoke a visa for reasons such as indicators of an overstay, criminal activity, a threat to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity or providing support to a terrorist organization. The administration has broadly defined support for terrorism to include criticism of U.S. support for Israel and the Jewish State’s military action and support for Palestinians. The federal government has previously used this as a justification to cancel visas. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has searched for online posts to target foreigners for the potential rescinding of their visas. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order to ensure visa holders “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.” Over the summer, the State Department said it would start asking applicants to make their social media accounts public for government monitoring and that interviews with applicants would determine who may pose a threat to national security.

Trump says more nations lining up to join Abraham Accords after Kazakhstan

Trump says more nations lining up to join Abraham Accords after Kazakhstan

President Donald Trump said more countries are lining up to join the Abraham Accords in an effort to normalize relations with Israel.  Kazakhstan is expected to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which had formalized relations with the Jewish state.  On Thursday, Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan. NETANYAHU TO SKIP TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST PEACE SUMMIT IN EGYPT AS NEW REGIONAL DYNAMICS TAKE SHAPE “Kazakhstan is the first Country of my Second Term to join the Abraham Accords, the first of many,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is a major step forward in building bridges across the World. Today, more Nations are lining up to embrace Peace and Prosperity through my Abraham Accords.” The Abraham Accords were first signed in 2020 in an effort to broker ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors.  TEAM ISRAEL GYMNASTS SPEAK OUT AFTER BEING BARRED FROM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS BY INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT Trump signaled that more nations, including Syria, may be joining the Abraham Accords, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront of efforts to expand the historic Israel-Arab normalization pact. Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, followed by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman Nov. 18. In January 2021, Sudan signed a U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords declaration, but those efforts have since been derailed by internal political unrest. “We will soon announce a Signing Ceremony to make it official, and there are many more Countries trying to join this club of STRENGTH,” Trump wrote. “So much more to come in uniting Countries for Stability and Growth — Real progress, real results. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”