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Inside New York's bitter Republican civil war after blue wave
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Nov 5, 2026 at 12:55 p.m. ET
Modified Nov 5, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. ET
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Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Nov 5, 2026 at 12:55 p.m. ET
Modified Nov 5, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. ET
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New York Republicans are demanding a reckoning in their own party after a blue wave swept away many of their candidates Tuesday.
Anthony Constantino, one of the last of the state’s MAGA faithful left standing, delivered a scathing assessment of the state party after declaring victory in his North Country congressional race. His profane rant echoed what many are saying behind closed doors.
“In NYS, the Republican Party is mostly a Con Job that helps Democrats win,” Constantino posted on social media. “Even Bruce Blakeman was in on the con. He just wandered around like a headless chicken going from stupid dinner to stupid dinner and charming the ‘party’ while ignoring the people.”
Constantino, who is leading Democratic opponent Blake Gendebien but has not yet been declared the winner, said the party’s ineptitude had robbed him of a bigger victory in his deep-red district. The sticker company CEO griped that the state party opposed him in the primary, which he narrowly won, and said he was forced to shell out $17 million of his own money.
Many said the party has lost its way amid decades of dysfunction. The state hasn’t fielded a viable Republican candidate for New York City mayor in 25 years. The last time a Republican won statewide office was in 2002. The party appeared poised for a comeback four years ago after a better-than-expected showing in the governor’s race and sweeping Long Island’s four congressional districts. But much of those gains were quickly lost.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, lost Tuesday's election by about 20 points to Gov. Kathy Hochul. Democrats expanded their substantial majorities in both the state Senate and state Assembly.
On Wednesday, outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican who abandoned her bid for governor late last year, told the New York Post the party's apparatus should be "built from scratch" and called Blakeman's bid "a low energy campaign with limited resources that lacked an apparatus.”
Blakeman fired back on social media, calling Stefanik a "selfish, do nothing politician that didn’t lift a finger to help Republican candidates in New York this year."
But beyond mud-slinging attacks were serious pleas for a shake-up. Some, including Constantino, have called for the ouster of State Committee Chairman Ed Cox. Others, like Marc Molinaro, a former Republican congressmember who served in the Trump administration and is now returning to Albany as an assemblymember, made more general calls for change.
“ I don't make it personal, but there needs to be change,” Molinaro said, adding that he disagreed with Constantino’s language, but supported the underlying sentiment.
“ This was an ass-whipping. It just was,” Molinaro said.
Cox, who served as party chair from 2009 to 2019 and returned to the role in 2023, did not respond to a request for comment.
Tuesday’s election saw a historic blue wave sweep the country, with Democrats taking control of the U.S. House and Senate and flipping Republican-held governor’s offices in at least five states. But Republicans in New York said the state party has faltered in ways that are unique to the Empire State.
“ The New York GOP needs to be gutted and completely replaced,” said Stefano Forte, president of the New York Young Republican Club. “ We have ineffective grifters who are in control of the party right now, and we should be ashamed of the results that just came out of this election.”
Forte said he has several friends who were “big Trump supporters” who didn’t go out and vote this cycle. “ They were disgusted, not only with the (Iran) war, with the Epstein stuff, but also with Blakeman and the New York GOP,” he said.
Forte said the state party needs younger leadership – pointing to the fact Cox, 80, has served as chair for over a dozen years.
“I'm going to speak freely. Ed Cox and the New York GOP did everything that they could to keep the Bruce Blakeman campaign away from my club, because they are unhappy that they can't control us,” Forte said. “They're unhappy that there is a youth movement brewing in New York.”
There was disagreement over whether the state should have done more to grow its tent, and appeal to more moderates, or do more for staunch conservatives like Constantino.
Mike Dawidziak, a longtime Republican political consultant and pollster, said candidates like Blakeman didn’t do enough to expand their appeal beyond supporters of President Donald Trump, who came to the state to campaign with Blakeman and others in the weeks before Election Day.
“ New York's a blue state,” he said. “The MAGA right isn't enough to get you elected.”
Some in New York saw signs of hope in the wreckage. In Suffolk County at the far end of Long Island, both Republican candidates appear to have held onto their congressional seats.
“As a whole, we stood strong as a big red brick wall against that blue wave tsunami,” said Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman Jesse Garcia.
Garcia said there were national forces at play, like inflation and the war in Iran, that dragged down Republicans at home. But he said a focus on local issues like public safety and cutting taxes helped local candidates in Suffolk County.
“ Each election echoes into the next, and what we have to do is roll up our sleeves, get up off the mat, (and) fight in 2027 with our local elections,” Garcia said.
Forte of the New York Young Republican was more pessimistic.
“ I think at the end of the day, the leaders of the NY GOP should very gracefully walk away,” Forte said. “If not, then there will be a reckoning from Republican voters.”
This story has been updated with new information.
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Walter Wuthmann
Walter Wuthmann is a reporter covering public safety and the legal system.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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