Republican leaders, looking to capitalize on their midterm successes in New York, are now hoping to turn the blue state into a battleground state ahead of the 2024 elections, according to the Washington Examiner.
The GOP flipped four House seats in New York in 2022. The Republican victories accounted for about one-third of the party's gains in the House, the news outlet reported.
Now, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has launched a New York Battleground Fund designed to counter Democrats' efforts in New York.
Her fund is aimed at raising money to aid vulnerable Republicans in the state like Reps. Marc Molinaro and Anthony D'Esposito, The Hill reported. Republicans are also targeting New York's Hudson Valley-based 18th District, currently represented by Democrat Rep. Pat Ryan.
"We will work our hardest to defeat the Democrats across New York and the country, to protect and expand our House Majority and elect President [Donald] Trump," she said.
Stefanik told the Examiner: "The battleground fund is going to be one of many entities that will … likely be investing in these critical seats. In any targeted race, there's a lot of investments.
"New York delivered the House majority when we flipped four seats, and it's ground zero for not only holding the majority but potentially expanding the majority. The Battleground Fund is a way for us to invest and get out the vote [and] to educate voters … and that's not just Republican voters but independents and Democrats as well."
Republicans will attempt to show the Democrats are too extreme for centrist voters and will focus on violent crimes in New York, Stefanik said.
"If you look at the results in 2022, Democrats reaped what they sowed," she said. "Their policies created a historic, catastrophic crime crisis, and it's a direct result of their failed bail reform and radical far-left district attorneys."
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are set to hold a hearing in New York City next week to look at violent crime in the state.
Stefanik said the hearing is a way to make sure "we are countering radical Democrats [and] that we are exposing the crime crisis."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.