Rev. Jim Harden on NY21 — “I am that candidate.”
Resignation Expected for Congresswoman Stefanik
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 26, 2025
Congresswoman Stefanik, Republican in New York’s 21st Congressional District, is expected to resign next week. April 1 is the Florida Special Election to fill two open House seats vacated by Trump appointments. In an attempt to shore up the slim majority in the House, the Senate, in coordination with President Trump and Speaker Johnson, slow walked the confirmation of Congresswoman Stefanik to the U.N. Now that critical leadership and budget votes are done and the empty seats in Florida are about to be filled, the Senate slated Congresswoman Stefanik for a vote for Ambassador to the U.N. on April 2. She will then immediately resign as Congresswoman for New York’s 21st Congressional District, home to the Army’s Fort Drum and one of the most deployed Divisions in the military, the 10th Mountain.
Absent a primary for the New York Special Election to replace Stefanik, pressure is mounting on the Republican Committee County Chairs. Those 15 Committee Chairs are solely responsible for choosing a suitable candidate to represent the people of NY’s 21st. The GOP have been divided over whether to choose a “its-my-turn” career politician or a candidate more suited to the political counter-revolution President Trump is leading. To get the GOP to start talking, New York State Conservative Party leader, Gerard Kassar, recently released a business-as-usual short list of establishment candidates (https://www.timesunion.com/capitol/article/conservative-party-backs-stec-ny-21-20238105.php).
GOP candidate, Rev. Jim Harden, sheds some light on the situation saying, “Choosing a legacy or career politician is not a safe move. We run the risk of 1) not only taking the wind out of the sails of the base but 2) having that candidate flounder if he has to fight a two-front campaign against an offended GOP candidate running as an independent and a Democrat using Republican talking points, embarrassing the GOP.” Harden continued his analysis, “President Trump is leading an unprecedented cultural/political revival. Only a candidate to match the cultural moment will be able to inspire both Conservatives and Republicans. And, based on my read, none of the candidates on the Conservative Party list are acceptable to independent-minded, Trump-oriented GOP County Chairs. Even if President Trump endorsed an establishment politician, it is unlikely to change their minds since such a candidate would be inconsistent with why they voted for President Trump in the first place.”
The political winds blowing are demanding someone with a track record of fighting political corruption, one who is able to handle the media and multiple battlefronts. Everyone in America is expecting NY to send an establishment politician to Congress. Given the Presidential election results, most people, even in NY, rejected politics as usual.
The Conservative Party can’t lead the GOP on this. Choosing the right candidate in this unprecedented cultural moment requires reading the signs of the times. Rev. Harden predicts, “If the GOP Chairs in NY’s 21st choose a candidate with the qualities to fit these times, the voters will vindicate their wisdom with a landslide victory. I am that candidate.”
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Contact: Rich Ronald
(585) 851-8220 | rich@hardenforcongress.org