Republicans urge battleground Rep. Mike Lawler to pass on a run for New York governor

From NBC News

Republican leaders are trying to convince Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., to drop his consideration of a run for governor of New York as concerns over protecting his battleground House seat next year mount, according to four senior GOP sources familiar with the situation.

Lawler says he hasn’t made a final decision about whether he will launch a 2026 campaign for governor. But party leaders are already growing nervous about the prospect of his abandoning one of just three GOP-held districts Kamala Harris carried in the 2024 presidential election and have privately urged him to stay in the House as they seek to protect their narrow majority, the four sources said. Some advisers close to President Donald Trump also have similar concerns about Lawler’s running for governor, according to two GOP sources familiar with the matter.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who recently met with Trump at the White House, called Lawler an “outstanding” House candidate.

“I would prefer he not run for governor,” Hudson told NBC News. Asked whether he has communicated those feelings to Lawler, he said, “Yes.”

Republicans see Lawler, a two-term congressman and former member of the New York Assembly, as uniquely situated to win his Hudson Valley-area district, which is why several senior Republican sources said they believe it would be difficult to recruit a candidate to replace him. Lawler, who was considered one of the most vulnerable GOP lawmakers up for re-election last cycle, ended up winning by nearly 6 percentage points.

“No one is waiting in the wings of his quality,” a national GOP strategist involved in House races said. “Everyone thinks very highly of Mike, and we believe he is uniquely qualified to run and win that seat.” 

Lawler has said he will decide on his plans by June.