WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise M. Stefanik has been reelected as the House Republican Conference chair for a second term.

The secret-ballot election held among Republican lawmakers on Tuesday put Rep. Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, back in the post she’s served in since 2021, when she was elevated after the ouster of Rep. Liz L. Cheney, R-Wyo., who lost support due to her criticism of former President Donald J. Trump. On Tuesday, Rep. Stefanik won the election with 144 votes to 74 for her opponent, freshman Rep. Byron L. Donalds, R-Fla.

In a statement, Rep. Stefanik said she was honored to win reelection to the powerful position, and said she will happily continue in her role as she has for the last year, leading the media preparation and developing the talking points used by most members of her party in the House.

“I will continue to work to keep our message disciplined, unified and on offense every single day, support our agenda, execute an effective rapid response strategy to push back on the biased mainstream media in real-time, elevate all voices in our Conference to highlight the extraordinary background and talents of every member in order to communicate, legislate and win,” she said.

In a Republican minority, Rep. Stefanik has been the third most powerful Republican in the House. With the Republicans’ taking back of the House, she is the fourth-most senior Republican member of leadership, behind the party’s choices for speaker, majority leader and majority whip.

Current minority leader Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy, R-Calif., won the party’s nomination for speaker, current minority whip Rep. Steven J. Scalise, R-La., won the election for majority leader, and current House Republican campaign leader Rep. Tom E. Emmer Jr., R-Minn., was tapped for the majority whip position.

Rep. Stefanik said that the successes seen for Republican candidates in New York, which saw enough GOP pickups in the House to give the party a narrow majority, proves that her messaging has been working.

“As we saw clearly across my home state of New York, the American people cannot afford Democrats’ reckless spending and want an alternative to Democrats’ failed, far left policies,” she said. “House Republicans have solutions and are ready to prosecute the case against Joe Biden and his failed radical agenda.”