ALBANY, New York — Rep. Elise Stefanik is suspending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek reelection to her upstate House seat, she announced Friday.

“I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Democrats all across the state for our campaign to Save New York,” she wrote in a social media post.

“However, as we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.”

Stefanik entered the race to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in November — months after President Donald Trump cleared the field by endorsing moderate GOP Rep. Mike Lawler’s reelection in his swing House seat.

But her bid became complicated this month by the entrance of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman into the race for governor. Both Stefanik and Blakeman are Trump allies and the president has publicly praised both candidates as “great.” Blakeman’s campaign on Thursday announced it would begin airing ads during the week of Christmas in West Palm Beach — the location of the president’s Florida residence.

The party establishment quickly started to rally behind Blakeman following Stefanik’s announcement.

"Bruce Blakeman has my endorsement and I urge our State Committee and party leaders to join me,” state GOP Chair Ed Cox said in a statement. “Bruce is a fighter who has proven he knows how to win in difficult political terrain. As County Executive, he cut taxes, fought against radical leftwing social policies and made Nassau County the safest county in America.”

Long considered a rising star among New York Republicans, Stefanik was first elected a decade ago to a rural House district that borders Canada. Initially a Republican in the mold of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, Stefanik became a vocal Trump supporter and rose to prominence during his first impeachment as an ardent defender.

That Trump support initially appeared to pay off when he returned to the White House.

Stefanik was previously nominated by Trump to become United Nations ambassador. That nomination was yanked earlier this year amid concerns over House Republicans’ narrow majority. The 41-year-old Republican then turned her attention to the New York governor’s office — a seat her party has not held since George Pataki was elected three times.

The race was immediately an uphill battle for Stefanik, who hammered Hochul repeatedly as the “worst governor in America” and signaled she would link her to incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Early polling, though, showed her to be in a challenging race to win in a deep blue state. A Siena University survey this month found Hochul holding a 19-point advantage over the GOP challenger.

Another indication of trouble came as Trump embraced Mamdani during an Oval Office meeting — undercutting a core message of her campaign. Blakeman’s bid called into question whether she would be forced to spend time and resources on a costly primary against a Republican who represents a suburban bellwether.

Stefanik had been scheduled to be the featured guest at the Oneida County GOP’s holiday dinner Friday night. But she canceled, citing business in Washington — despite the fact the House has adjourned for the year.

The departure leaves Blakeman as the only candidate in the GOP field as the party seeks to end what will be a 24-year drought in statewide contests in 2026.

He’s little known outside of Long Island — the recent Siena poll found 59 percent of Republicans didn’t know or have an opinion of him. And while he’s started to tour upstate in an effort to build bridges, he’s made few inroads in the vote-rich corner of northern New York where Stefanik has been building her base for a decade.

Blakeman has based his candidacy on support for law enforcement and his electability — he comfortably won reelection in purple Nassau County last month despite a strong night for Democrats practically everywhere else in the state.

Stefanik in recent days lambasted House Speaker Mike Johnson in a remarkable and public outburst, after months of simmering tension between the two. She accused Johnson of failing to lead the House GOP conference and argued at that point he didn’t have the support to win the speakership again.

Many Republicans in Johnson's leadership circle are “not sad to see her go,” one senior Republican aide said.

Hochul’s campaign took a victory lap after the news.

“Elise Stefanik has finally acknowledged reality: If you run against Governor Kathy Hochul, you are going to lose,” Hochul spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said. “As Donald Trump raises costs on New Yorkers and targets this state relentlessly, Governor Hochul has cut middle-class taxes, put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets, and fought this administration and won when New York has come under attack.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.