Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third-highest ranking House Republican, cruised to a sixth term in Congress on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Paula Collins in New York's 21st Congressional District, the Associated Press has declared.
Voters in the North Country preferred Stefanik, an incumbent Republican and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, over Collins, a cannabis tax attorney, 62% to 38%, with about three-quarters of the vote in, according to the AP.
Stefanik, who campaigned on what she said was a proven record of results, declared victory in the race on Tuesday night.
“I am incredibly humbled that voters in Upstate New York and the North Country have once again put their trust in me by overwhelmingly supporting my re-election," Stefanik said in a statement Tuesday night. "As a proud Upstate New Yorker, it is the utmost honor and privilege to fight for Upstate at the highest levels of government."
Collins had positioned herself as a political outsider and argued that her experience outside of politics made her more relatable to voters.
Both candidates in the race focused on immigration at New York’s border, and a need to address economic concerns in the large upstate district, which borders Canada and Vermont and is made up of 12 counties and parts of three.
It's home to Fort Drum and a large population of military veterans. It's a district Stefanik has called her own since she won her first election in 2014.
During her fifth two-year term, Stefanik made national news by questioning the presidents of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania about antisemitism on their campuses.
Stefanik will be sworn in in January as a member of the 119th Congress.