Incumbent Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik handily earned reelection to represent NY-21 with unofficial election results Tuesday night showing her with around 60% of the vote over challenging Democrat Paula Collins.

The Associated Press declared Stefanik the winner at 10:49 p.m. with more than 60% of NY-21 districts reporting results.

Unofficial election results from the state Board of Elections show that with 346,257 votes cast in total, Stefanik held 60.31% of the vote with 208,820 votes. Collins had 36.50% of the vote with 126,371 votes.

The independently registered Scott Lewis fought in court to gain access to the ballot on the Common Sense Party line but was not able to. He ran a write-in campaign. Incomplete data showed 166 write-in votes in the NY-21 race.

Stefanik is the House Republican Conference Chair, the fourth-ranking GOP member of the House. Stefanik was also on the Conservative party line. Collins was also on the Working Families party line.

Stefanik won in 2014 with 53% of the vote, in 2016 with 61.6% of the vote, in 2018 with 55% of the vote, in 2020 with 58% of the vote and in 2022 with 58% of the vote.

She was first elected to Congress in 2014. At the time, she was the youngest woman to earn a House seat.

Stefanik was not immediately available for an interview with the Enterprise.

The New York Times reported that Stefanik was flying to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida with House Speaker Mike Johnson after being in Shreveport, Louisiana with Johnson, who also won reelection on Tuesday. Stefanik has made herself a strong part of the Trump support team in recent years. She was campaigning almost as much for the Republican presidential candidate as herself in this election cycle.

Stefanik said she was “humbled” by voters reelecting her.

“The hardworking families, small businesses, farms, seniors and veterans that make up our community are sending me back to Washington because they know my record of delivering results,” she said in a statement. “I am honored to serve Upstate New York and the North Country as the highest-ranking woman in elected congressional leadership, and I will always give this district the voice that it deserves.”

Collins said she was proud of the campaign she ran. She got a late start, announcing in February, in a large district where she said it is harder to hire consultants and fundraisers than in others. Still, the result on Tuesday night was “disappointing” for her.

“It’s a disappointing show for democracy, it’s a disappointing show for women’s rights, and for defeating fascism,” Collins said.

She said her primary purpose is to stamp out fascism and make sure the U.S. doesn’t become Adolph Hitler’s Germany.

Collins said her race for the 2026 midterm elections essentially starts today on social media. The campaign itself will begin after the presidential inauguration in January, she said, because she feels media will be occupied with that event until then.

“This race was all about making the connections and forming the relationships and getting the processes in place, rather than on fundraising,” Collins said.

She felt the difference between her campaign and Stefanik’s was that she made herself available to voters. Collins said she felt Stefanik had events closed to the public that were not advertised in advance. The two candidates never debated, though Collins called for a debate several times.

Asked if she had any words for Stefanik on election night, Collins said, “At this time, no.”

Stefanik said she won with support from “Republicans, Independents, Conservatives and Democrats.” In a statement, she said NY-21 cannot afford more “failed Far Left Democrat policies under Kamala Harris and Kathy Hochul.”

Stefanik has pledged “unconditional support” for Israel, demands the closing of the U.S. borders — southern and northern — amid what she calls a “border nightmare” and has been sounding the alarm on inflation driving up prices of goods and services.

Collins supported a capital gains tax to tax earnings on assets like stocks and real estate, supported Medicare for All and said said the federal government needs a proactive effort to stop climate change.

Stefanik spoke about the issues she’s represented during the election.

“From leading the charge to end skyrocketing inflation to fighting antisemitism and working alongside border patrol agents to secure our borders, as well as combating the catastrophic Democrat Defund the Police and failed bail reform agenda, I have never backed down from fighting on behalf of our community in Washington and Albany,” Stefanik said in a statement.

Stefanik vastly out-raised Collins in this race.

According to campaign finance filings on Oct. 16, Stefanik had around $8 million cash on hand, had raised just over $14 million and spent almost $6.8 million. These filings show Collins with more than $85,000 cash on hand, having raised more than $139,000 and spent a bit more than $50,000.

There are a total of 523,479 registered voters in NY-21, according to state BoE data updated Nov. 1. But 31,206 of those are listed as “inactive,” meaning they appear to have moved.

Among these total voters, 214,882 are Republicans, 138,783 are Democrats, 132,580 are not affiliated with any political party, 25,579 are affiliated with parties not recognized by the state, 9,450 are Conservative and 2,205 are Working Families Party members.