Impeachment proceedings last year thrust the congresswoman into the national spotlight as she assumed the role of fierce defender of the president.
President Trump once called Rep. Elise Stefanik a “new Republican star” as she defended him against Democratic criticism. But as she takes the national stage Wednesday to implore voters to give Trump four more years, Stefanik is trying to sell constituents back home on a different sort of reputation: centrist. Once considered among the most moderate members in the House, Stefanik over the past two years has become one of Trump’s most vocal champions on Capitol Hill, surprising even some of her own colleagues while propelling the youngest Republican woman in the House to GOP stardom. During the Trump impeachment proceedings last year, she was a regular on Fox News, forcefully rejecting complaints that Trump abused his oath of office in pressing a foreign leader to investigate his domestic political rivals. More recently, Stefanik has campaigned for the president, flying to at least one rally in Tulsa during the coronavirus pandemic to appear by his side. Yet Stefanik,36, has long branded herself a Rockefeller Republican — a pragmatic moderate in the mold of former New York governor and onetime vice president Nelson Rockefeller. She has easily won reelection in a district that stretches from the outskirts of Saratoga Springs across the Adirondack Mountains to the Canadian border. The race in the North Country district, which backed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then went for Trump by 14 points in 2016, is not considered competitive and Stefanik is favored to win. Still, she has played up that centrist image while promoting Trump. “One of the most bipartisan members of Congress,” says the moderator in one ad airing in her New York district. “Elise Stefanik, independent, delivering results.” The ad makes no mention of Trump. both centrist and Trump champion — is rare for the GOP. Often Republicans are either conservative and adamant Trump defenders, or moderates who keep their dislike of Trump quiet for fear of the base. Stefanik’s move to be both had elicited criticism. Ahead of Stefanik’s convention appearance, her Democratic challenger, Tedra Cobb, attacked her as “shilling” for Trump, more intent on growing her national profile than in representing her district. “Her fealty to him has left us behind,” said Cobb, who lost to Stefanik 56 to 42 percent in 2018. “We are a district that is very independent . so we know that people want a representative who will stand up when we need them to . and unfortunately that’s not Stefanik.” She added: “Elise Stefanik has time to go to Iowa [for Trump] and time to go to Tulsa and time to show and talk and stump for the president — but she’s not here to fight for our families.” A moderate congresswoman went all-in for Trump. Her constituents think they know why. On issues, Stefanik remains among the more moderate House Republicans.
