Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a firebrand Long Island Republican, announced his candidacy for New York governor on Tuesday, setting up a primary clash with Trump ally U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Blackman, who President Donald Trump called “100 percent MAGA,” criticized Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochu, saying in social media posts that New Yorkers deserve effective leadership.
Blackman said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that Hochul is a “loser” who needs to be replaced. “I’m running for office to make people more prosperous, to make them safer, and to make New Yorkers happy again.”
Blackman’s candidacy is expected to kick off a tight race between Republicans and Stefanik. Stefanik, a conservative from upstate New York, was nominated by Trump to be ambassador to the United Nations but withdrew his nomination over concerns that the Republican majority could not lose more House seats.
Trump has so far avoided taking sides, telling reporters this week that “he’s great, she’s great. They’re both great people.”
Democrats enjoy a strong voter registration advantage in New York, but next year’s gubernatorial race is expected to be one of the most watched in the country. Hochul, a moderate Democrat, faces a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
Blackman, who serves as leader of a suburban county east of New York City, has positioned himself as a bulwark against liberal city leadership in a part of Long Island that leans conservative and supported Trump in recent elections.
He pushed a policy that banned transgender athletes from using county sports facilities, created a volunteer law enforcement unit that his critics called a militia, and directed county detectives to join federal authorities in cracking down on Trump’s immigration push.
As Nassau’s first Jewish county executive, he also signed a local ban on wearing masks in public except for health or religious reasons, a measure that critics complained was aimed at suppressing pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Blackman easily won the November election for a second term. Previously, he served on the Hempstead Town Council and was appointed commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
But larger elective office eluded him. Hochul’s campaign released a statement saying Blackman “has lost nearly every race he’s been involved in – county commissioner, comptroller, Congress, even the U.S. Senate. There’s a reason for that: Like Donald Trump, he’s taken money out of the pockets of New Yorkers and squeezed working families at every turn.”
Both Blackman and Stefanik are now positioning themselves as candidates who can appeal to moderate Democrats and Republicans, even as both adopt Trump’s brash political rhetoric that remains unpopular in New York.
Former Gov. George Pataki was the state’s last Republican governor, leaving office nearly two decades ago.
