As the New York Republican Party searches for a new leader to build on its gains in the November midterms, a billionaire businessman who is an active political donor,  John Catsimatidis, has a suggested candidate: a former party chairman, Ed Cox. 

The one-time GOP New York City mayoral candidate told the Sun in a phone interview that Mr. Cox was a “great” chairman during his tenure that ran between 2009 and 2019. “Ed Cox is very strong,” Mr. Catsimatidis said. “I think you should have Ed, plus a downstate deputy and an upstate deputy.” He suggested the Suffolk County GOP chairman, Jesse Garcia, for the downstate post and said he doesn’t know about the other.

Mr. Cox did not immediately respond to a request for comment about a prospective bid to retake the reins.

The current GOP chairman, Nicholas “Nick” Langworthy, in November was elected to Congress to represent the 23rd district in New York’s southern tier. He is expected to resign from his party post after he is sworn in to the 118th Congress on January 3. 

So far, at least four candidates are weighing bids for the top spot in the state GOP. These include three county party chiefs — Rockland County’s Lawrence Garvey, Fulton County’s Sue McNeil, and Schoharie County’s Christopher Tague, who is also a state assemblyman — and a lawyer in private practice, John Sarcone. Other candidates are in the mix as well.

The Rockland County GOP chairman, Mr. Garvey, told the Sun that he would “have a tough time” continuing his campaign in the event Mr. Cox entered the race. 

“I love Ed Cox. And he did a great job as our chairman,” Mr. Garvey said, pointing to his role aiding the most recent Republican nominee for governor, Congressman Lee Zeldin. Mr. Cox “has done a lot of great stuff since leaving, including leading the redistricting litigation and raising big money for Lee Zeldin.”

A Clarkstown lawyer, Mr. Garvey is basing his own candidacy on the GOP’s local victories under his leadership in this year’s elections. Rockland County played a key role in the defeat of a top Democrat, Representative Sean Maloney, in November, and the victory of Congressman-elect Michael Lawler. “We had a fantastic year,” Mr. Garvey said. 

He told the Sun that the key to Republican success statewide is cutting into Democratic margins in New York City’s minority communities — especially Asian-Americans and Hispanics — something he would invest in as party chairman. “The biggest scam in American politics is that the Democratic Party helps these groups, but they just don’t. Their values, their futures depend not on the Democratic Party but on the Republican Party.”

The Fulton County chairwoman, Ms. McNeil, has been contacting Republican county leaders about her intention to run for the position. She did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Mr. Cox. Ms. McNeil told the Sun that despite her party’s success this year, there is more to be done. 

“There are some things that need to change,” she said in a phone interview. “We need to get back together as a team. I feel the [county] chairs do not feel connected to each other.”

Ms. McNeil has a powerful supporter in Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the no. 4 Republican in the new House majority. “She encouraged me to run four years ago, and she pushed me to run this time,” she said. 

Ms. McNeil said intends to officially launch her bid in the coming weeks. 

“I’ve been talking to people and I’m definitely going to run,” Mr. Tague of Schoharie County told the Sun, eyeing an announcement after the holidays. “I’ve had some fellow county chairs call me and encourage me to run. My work ethic, my communication skills, and my record set me apart,” he added. 

A potential problem for Ms. McNeil and Mr. Tague’s candidacies, however, is the way the state GOP leader is elected. The key to winning the post runs through counties that delivered the most votes for the most recent GOP gubernatorial candidate. 

Committee members from these counties will have their votes weighted so they are worth more than those from smaller counties that delivered fewer votes for Mr. Zeldin’s gubernatorial campaign. 

This means counties like Nassau and Suffolk will have an outsize role in choosing the party chairman, far from Ms. McNeil’s and Mr. Tague’s rural, upstate bases of support. 

Those two counties gave Mr. Zeldin nearly a quarter of his total statewide vote, meaning Nassau and Suffolk counties will constitute about 25 percent of the vote for the chairmanship. Fulton County contributed only half a percent of Mr. Zeldin’s total statewide votes. 

The first vice chairman of the state GOP, John Burnett, will take over from Mr. Langworthy in the top job on an interim basis until a new chairman is elected. 

A former Westchester County executive, Rob Astorino, is also reportedly considering a run for state party chairman. He was his party’s nominee for governor in 2014 and ran for the nomination in 2022, but lost to Mr. Zeldin. 

Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, who represents suburban Orange County in the state legislature, is also said to be telling colleagues he may run for the state party’s top job. Mr. Schmitt will leave the state assembly in a few weeks after narrowly losing a congressional race in New York’s 18th district to the incumbent, Representative Pat Ryan. 

New York’s contest for a new party chief comes as the national party considers overturning its own leadership team. The Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, is facing a challenge from a California lawyer and activist, committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, who is a legal advisor to President Trump. 

The MyPillow chief executive, Mike Lindell, has also expressed interest in the position. Both the national party’s vice chairman and treasurer have announced they will not be returning to leadership.