April 17, 2025 • 7 mins
Laura Curran joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about Elise Stefanik’s potential run for Governor of New York.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back in Happy Thursday to you. A lot going
on politically. The big story is the story out today
that a least Staphonic, a powerful congresswoman, a star in
the Republican Party, is well. She says she's considering running,
but it sounds like the from everything that's happened over
(00:21):
the last couple of days, she is going to run
for governor and may very well clear the Republican field
for that. For more on that, let's go to Laura Curran,
political commentator and former NASA County executive. Laura a LEAs
Staphonic for governor? What do you think?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, you know, she's a firebrand, she's a feisty person,
and she certainly has her MAGA credentials. What I find
interesting about her is she used to be one of
those Republican never trumpers, and so there's a chameleon aspect
to her that I'm sure would come out in any campaign.
When she first was elected, she was sort of seen
(00:59):
as this new breed. This was you know, before Troy,
before Trump, as this new breed of legislator, of Republican
who's young and inclusive and all about being open and
a little more liberal in all of this, and then
of course, you know, Trump becomes president. She doesn't even
say his name at the beginning, but then you know,
(01:20):
comes the ride on Air Force one, and then comes
the pat on the head from from the president in
his first term, and she she changed her mind. She's like,
I'm riding this train and I'm gonna ride it hard.
And she has done it. I mean, she's you know,
gone after the universities. She's really been very loyal and
strong on the MAGA issues. So I think I think
(01:43):
her strength will help her in a Republican primary. I
think that it was a big disappointment that she didn't
get that un ambassadorship job, which would have been a
fabulous job. I think, you know, it'd be a great
right position for her. She didn't. It didn't work out
because they needed there to have such a slim majority
the Republicans in the House of Representatives. So Trump asked
(02:05):
her to step step, you know, not take the nomination
stay there.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Clearly, this is a young, ambitious person and she wants
to move on. So the way I see it is shield.
I think she could do very well in a primary,
in a Republican primary. However, when you get to the
if she wins the primary, when you get to a
general election, that's when I think it would be very
challenging for her as someone who is so Trump aligned.
So someone like Mike Lawler I think would have a
(02:31):
harder time in a primary. But I think in a
general election, if I was in charge of the Republicans,
I would look for someone like that. Like I'm a Democrat.
But when I listen to Mike Lawler speak, and you know,
I hope I'm not like hurting his chances here or whatever.
He sounds like a reasonable person. Like I don't agree
with him on a lot of stuff. I don't agree
on a lot of the votes that he's taking right now,
but the words that he says, I'm like, yeah, okay,
(02:52):
you sound like a reasonable person. I could live with that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I like him too. I like him a lot, And
I feel bad for him right now because I think
that clears the field. Because Donald Trump, he put out
a truth social post a little while ago that said
in all capitals alas stephonic is great exclamation point. There's
like six exclamation points after that, and so I think
when she gets in, it's going to clear the field.
(03:18):
And I think Bruce Blakeman's idea of possibly becoming governor
goes out the window too.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah. Yeah, And I think I haven't really seen his
name bandied about in the article, so I don't know
if that's just something in his brain or something that's
actually real out there in the world. But yeah, absolutely,
she would knock a lot of people out of the field.
Unless you have a more moderate Republican who decides to
(03:47):
and you're finding this less and less of this, but
decides to buck Trump and run a spirited primary, he'll
get you know. I mean, it seems like a lot
of these Republicans are afraid of getting Trump angry. They
want to be lotle and they also because they're ambitious,
and God bless us, everybody's ambitious. There's nothing wrong with ambition.
But because they're ambitious, they may stifle themselves in hopeful
(04:10):
in hope that in the future they'll be rewarded with
something else.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
A moderate Republican would get killed in the primary. And
here's the reason. First of all, I think that the
Republican Party is so into Trump right now that anybody
that Trump blesses is going to win the primary. But
she's going to get a lot of money too. I
think all the money that was going to go to
Lawler or go to some of the other candidates is
all going to go to her. Now, the nomination at
(04:36):
least is hers if she wants it. But I would
think that she has the very best chance against Kathy Hokel.
And the thing that makes it possible, Laura, and you
can tell me if you agree, is Kathy Hokel, who's
extremely unpopular right now.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, that's the thing. A lot of people, I mean,
you know, Kathi Hokel, I think recently has has done
some good stuff, you know, trying to change the Discovery
rules about bail reform. I mean, she's you know, she's trying,
but I think it's too baked in now that she's
kind of weak, she doesn't have a core, you know,
all of these things. It's just at some point the
(05:13):
reputation takes over and it's going to be really hard
for her. But you know, and she also a lot
of people feel that there's just not a lot of
strength in her, whereas Stefanic comes across as someone who's
really strong. But you know, look at the registration advantage.
It's really hard to overcome that there are just frankly,
(05:34):
so many more Democrats in New York State than Republicans.
So just you know, if Hochel can do a good
job in the campaign, and she has a ton of money,
she could hold on. And you know, I think that
something the Stephanic would be looking at is how close
Leelden came in twenty twenty two, is within five or
six points or something, which is insane when you think
(05:56):
about the registration advantage that Democrats have. So maybe she
thinks that she can make that up.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Let's talk about Letitia James, because you know what they
say about Karma and this is amazing, the irony of
these charges that may be brought against her.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, if true, if these charges are true, that she
committed these lies in securing loans and things like that
for real estate, Uh, it's it's really bad. It's really
it's gonna be really difficult to overcome. You know, as
we all know, accusations can be leveled, and she has
the opportunity to defend herself and I you know, I'm
(06:32):
interested to see how that how that unfolds. I'll be
watching that very closely, because boy, talk about a target
on your back. Yeah, And I would just warn everyone
in public service, you gotta be really careful. Don't be stupid,
don't be arrogant, do the right thing. Crossthe t's dot,
the i's get your lord look at it. Don't play
around because this is a blood sport.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Absolutely, I'll tell you what. The details in the referral
are damning. I mean, they have figures, they have paperwork.
It looks really bad for her, which I would imagine
is why she's not out there talking about this right now. Hey,
hey Laura, thanks so much, Laura Caarrn, political commentator and
former NASA County executive. That was great. Look forward to
(07:15):
talking to you again.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Thanks a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Bye bye, bye bye. So she doesn't think that Elista
Phoni's gonna win, I think that she has the best
chance of any Republican in a long long time, by far,
the best chance, because she's a star. And I can't
wait to see the debate I'm already looking for. I'm
way past the primary. I just want to watch that
(07:39):
first debate when she just she will kill Kathy Okle.
This is what she does.
Welcome back in Happy Thursday to you. A lot going
on politically. The big story is the story out today
that a least Staphonic, a powerful congresswoman, a star in
the Republican Party, is well. She says she's considering running,
but it sounds like the from everything that's happened over
(00:21):
the last couple of days, she is going to run
for governor and may very well clear the Republican field
for that. For more on that, let's go to Laura Curran,
political commentator and former NASA County executive. Laura a LEAs
Staphonic for governor? What do you think?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, you know, she's a firebrand, she's a feisty person,
and she certainly has her MAGA credentials. What I find
interesting about her is she used to be one of
those Republican never trumpers, and so there's a chameleon aspect
to her that I'm sure would come out in any campaign.
When she first was elected, she was sort of seen
(00:59):
as this new breed. This was you know, before Troy,
before Trump, as this new breed of legislator, of Republican
who's young and inclusive and all about being open and
a little more liberal in all of this, and then
of course, you know, Trump becomes president. She doesn't even
say his name at the beginning, but then you know,
(01:20):
comes the ride on Air Force one, and then comes
the pat on the head from from the president in
his first term, and she she changed her mind. She's like,
I'm riding this train and I'm gonna ride it hard.
And she has done it. I mean, she's you know,
gone after the universities. She's really been very loyal and
strong on the MAGA issues. So I think I think
(01:43):
her strength will help her in a Republican primary. I
think that it was a big disappointment that she didn't
get that un ambassadorship job, which would have been a
fabulous job. I think, you know, it'd be a great
right position for her. She didn't. It didn't work out
because they needed there to have such a slim majority
the Republicans in the House of Representatives. So Trump asked
(02:05):
her to step step, you know, not take the nomination
stay there.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Clearly, this is a young, ambitious person and she wants
to move on. So the way I see it is shield.
I think she could do very well in a primary,
in a Republican primary. However, when you get to the
if she wins the primary, when you get to a
general election, that's when I think it would be very
challenging for her as someone who is so Trump aligned.
So someone like Mike Lawler I think would have a
(02:31):
harder time in a primary. But I think in a
general election, if I was in charge of the Republicans,
I would look for someone like that. Like I'm a Democrat.
But when I listen to Mike Lawler speak, and you know,
I hope I'm not like hurting his chances here or whatever.
He sounds like a reasonable person. Like I don't agree
with him on a lot of stuff. I don't agree
on a lot of the votes that he's taking right now,
but the words that he says, I'm like, yeah, okay,
(02:52):
you sound like a reasonable person. I could live with that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I like him too. I like him a lot, And
I feel bad for him right now because I think
that clears the field. Because Donald Trump, he put out
a truth social post a little while ago that said
in all capitals alas stephonic is great exclamation point. There's
like six exclamation points after that, and so I think
when she gets in, it's going to clear the field.
(03:18):
And I think Bruce Blakeman's idea of possibly becoming governor
goes out the window too.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah. Yeah, And I think I haven't really seen his
name bandied about in the article, so I don't know
if that's just something in his brain or something that's
actually real out there in the world. But yeah, absolutely,
she would knock a lot of people out of the field.
Unless you have a more moderate Republican who decides to
(03:47):
and you're finding this less and less of this, but
decides to buck Trump and run a spirited primary, he'll
get you know. I mean, it seems like a lot
of these Republicans are afraid of getting Trump angry. They
want to be lotle and they also because they're ambitious,
and God bless us, everybody's ambitious. There's nothing wrong with ambition.
But because they're ambitious, they may stifle themselves in hopeful
(04:10):
in hope that in the future they'll be rewarded with
something else.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
A moderate Republican would get killed in the primary. And
here's the reason. First of all, I think that the
Republican Party is so into Trump right now that anybody
that Trump blesses is going to win the primary. But
she's going to get a lot of money too. I
think all the money that was going to go to
Lawler or go to some of the other candidates is
all going to go to her. Now, the nomination at
(04:36):
least is hers if she wants it. But I would
think that she has the very best chance against Kathy Hokel.
And the thing that makes it possible, Laura, and you
can tell me if you agree, is Kathy Hokel, who's
extremely unpopular right now.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, that's the thing. A lot of people, I mean,
you know, Kathi Hokel, I think recently has has done
some good stuff, you know, trying to change the Discovery
rules about bail reform. I mean, she's you know, she's trying,
but I think it's too baked in now that she's
kind of weak, she doesn't have a core, you know,
all of these things. It's just at some point the
(05:13):
reputation takes over and it's going to be really hard
for her. But you know, and she also a lot
of people feel that there's just not a lot of
strength in her, whereas Stefanic comes across as someone who's
really strong. But you know, look at the registration advantage.
It's really hard to overcome that there are just frankly,
(05:34):
so many more Democrats in New York State than Republicans.
So just you know, if Hochel can do a good
job in the campaign, and she has a ton of money,
she could hold on. And you know, I think that
something the Stephanic would be looking at is how close
Leelden came in twenty twenty two, is within five or
six points or something, which is insane when you think
(05:56):
about the registration advantage that Democrats have. So maybe she
thinks that she can make that up.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Let's talk about Letitia James, because you know what they
say about Karma and this is amazing, the irony of
these charges that may be brought against her.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, if true, if these charges are true, that she
committed these lies in securing loans and things like that
for real estate, Uh, it's it's really bad. It's really
it's gonna be really difficult to overcome. You know, as
we all know, accusations can be leveled, and she has
the opportunity to defend herself and I you know, I'm
(06:32):
interested to see how that how that unfolds. I'll be
watching that very closely, because boy, talk about a target
on your back. Yeah, And I would just warn everyone
in public service, you gotta be really careful. Don't be stupid,
don't be arrogant, do the right thing. Crossthe t's dot,
the i's get your lord look at it. Don't play
around because this is a blood sport.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Absolutely, I'll tell you what. The details in the referral
are damning. I mean, they have figures, they have paperwork.
It looks really bad for her, which I would imagine
is why she's not out there talking about this right now. Hey,
hey Laura, thanks so much, Laura Caarrn, political commentator and
former NASA County executive. That was great. Look forward to
(07:15):
talking to you again.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Thanks a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Bye bye, bye bye. So she doesn't think that Elista
Phoni's gonna win, I think that she has the best
chance of any Republican in a long long time, by far,
the best chance, because she's a star. And I can't
wait to see the debate I'm already looking for. I'm
way past the primary. I just want to watch that
(07:39):
first debate when she just she will kill Kathy Okle.
This is what she does.
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