United States Representative from New York since 2015 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elise Marie Stefanik (/stəˈfɑːnɪk/; born July 2, 1984) is an American politician. She is a member of the U.S. Representative for New York's 21st congressional district since 2015. She has been the chair of the House Republican Conference since 2021. Stefanik has been seen as a possible running mate for former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.[1]
Elise Stefanik | |
---|---|
Chair of the House Republican Conference | |
Assumed office May 14, 2021 | |
Deputy | Mike Johnson Blake Moore |
Leader | Kevin McCarthy Mike Johnson |
Preceded by | Liz Cheney |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 21st district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Bill Owens |
Personal details | |
Born | Elise Marie Stefanik July 2, 1984 Albany, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) |
Matthew Manda (m. 2017) |
Education | Harvard University (AB) |
Signature | |
Website | House website |
Stefanik was born in Albany, New York. She studied at Harvard University. She became interested in politics in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001.[2] She was elected vice president of the Harvard Institute of Politics in 2004.[3]
After graduating from Harvard, she joined the George W. Bush administration, as a staff member for the U.S. Domestic Policy Council.[4] Stefanik later worked in the office of Joshua Bolten, the White House Chief of Staff.[4]
In 2009, she founded the blog American Maggie, to promote the views of "conservative and Republican women", named after British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[3]
When elected in 2014, Stefanik, then aged 30, became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at the time. She was also the youngest Republican woman ever elected to Congress at the time.[5]
Stefanik has long supported empowering women in the Republican Party and helped change the party's culture to focusing on electing more women. After her election in 2014, Stefanik named Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg as a major influence on her decision to run for Congress.[6]
At first, she was elected as a moderate conservative, however Stefanik has become more conservative and has supported former President Donald Trump. She strongly opposed the first impeachment of Trump in 2019 and supported Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election. As the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack began to investigate, Stefanik blamed then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi instead of Trump over the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[7]
Stefanik criticized Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.[8]
Stefanik was elected as the chair of the Republican House Conference in May 2021 after Liz Cheney was removed.[9]
On July 19, 2022, Stefanik was one of the 47 Republican representatives who voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[10]
Stefanik has supported the idea of "expunging" both of Trump's impeachments. In 2022, Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin introduced resolutions to remove Trump's first impeachments from the Congressional Record.[11] This received support from Stefanik.[12]
Stefanik became well known in December 2023[13] for her intense questioning of university presidents during a widely televised U.S. congressional hearing on antisemitism.[14] Her hearings led to criticism and resignation of two of the presidents.[13][15]
Stefanik has been seen as a possible running mate for former President Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.[16]
Stefanik's committee assignments include:[17]
Stefanik married Matthew Manda in 2017.[18] In December 2018, Stefanik and Manda moved to Schuylerville, near Saratoga Springs.[19] Their first child was born in 2021.[20] Stefanik is a Roman Catholic.
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