FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro is openly exploring a run for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s soon-to-be vacated House seat in upstate New York, The Post has learned.

Molinaro — a former Dutchess County executive and ex-congressman from New York’s 19th Congressional District — has been calling county chairs in recent weeks to gauge the viability of his candidacy.

State Conservative Party Chair Gerard Kassar confirmed that Molinaro had reached out to him about possibly entering the race for New York’s 21st Congressional District, and whether the right-leaning party would cross-endorse him.

“Marc asked me to be open to a potential candidacy,” Kassar said Wednesday.

Molinaro currently serves in President Trump’s administration as Federal Transit Administration boss. He had no immediate comment.

Stefanik recently announced she would not seek re-election next year, leaving the North Country seat up for grabs.

Assemblyman Robert Smullen, who was endorsed by the Franklin County Republican Party on Tuesday, is another contender Conservatives would consider, Kassar said.

Anthony Constantino, owner of Sticker Mule, a printing and packaging supply company, is also vying for the Republican nomination to succeed Stefanik.

Molinaro’s potential entry into the race was already raising serious political, ideological and residency questions among local Republicans, sources said.

Molinaro does not have strong ties to the district itself, an expansive area that runs through 15 counties and borders Vermont and Canada — and may be accused early on of being a carpetbagger.

His career was focused in Dutchess County, where he served as mayor of Tivoli, a member of the Dutchess County Legislature, county executive, and later as a congressman representing the Hudson Valley and parts of upstate.

He also was the Republican candidate for governor in 2018.

Molinaro lost his House re-election bid to Democratic Rep. Josh Riley in 2024, a rematch from two years earlier.

Beyond his residency, GOP sources claimed Molinaro’s record was too liberal for Republican primary voters in the conservative-leaning district.

Molinaro, during the 2024 campaign, softened his opposition to abortion.

“I believe health decisions should be between a woman and her doctor, not Washington,” Molinaro said in a TV ad.

He did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016 but did so after and currently serves in the Trump administration.

One Republican source characterized Molinaro as  “liberal” and “failed politician who didn’t even vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and is now a DC elitist trying to parachute into a district he has no connection to.”

“Marc is asking for the president’s support,” a Republican insider said.