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Long Island's Bruce Blakeman complicates GOP plan to avoid primary for governor's race
By
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 14, 2025
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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has a message for New York’s Republican leaders: The road to the governor’s mansion runs through Long Island.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive who won reelection last week, has been traveling the state in recent days as he weighs a run for governor in 2026. A Republican who counts himself as an ally to President Donald Trump, he says his decisive reelection on an otherwise poor night for the GOP nationwide is proof he can connect with voters in a deeply Democratic state.
Blakeman said he would take the next two to three weeks to decide whether to hop into the 2026 governor’s race.
But his gubernatorial flirtation is drawing major pushback from party leaders — most notably state GOP Chair Ed Cox, who is backing Rep. Elise Stefanik for governor and declared there won’t be a Republican primary next year.
Blakeman is paying that no mind. He made stops in New York City, Orange County and Albany this week and is due to appear in Plattsburgh on Friday. He plans to visit the Southern Tier and Western New York, too, making his case to party officials, business leaders and reporters that he’s the best candidate to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I think I have a base and a springboard for becoming a governor that's much stronger than anybody else,” Blakeman told reporters outside the state Capitol on Thursday. “Because if you're not rolling up big numbers in Nassau County and Suffolk County as a Republican, you have no shot to become the governor of the state.”
Blakeman’s statewide tour comes less than a week after Stefanik, a Republican from the North Country who is also a major Trump ally, officially launched her gubernatorial campaign, vowing to deny Hochul a second full term and rolling out a broad slate of endorsements from GOP officials.
Cox said the GOP would be better off putting all its campaigning behind defeating Hochul rather than a costly battle for the party’s nomination.
“There will not be a Republican primary, and a year from now Elise will lead our team to victory over Kathy Hochul, end one-party Democrat rule and make New York affordable again,” Cox said in a statement released by Stefanik’s campaign.
There are many roadblocks to a Republican becoming governor in New York.
Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2-to-1 in the state — with independent voters who aren’t enrolled in any party also outpacing the GOP — according to data from the state Board of Elections. No Republican has won statewide office in New York since George Pataki won his third and final term as governor in 2002.
The Republican nominee in 2022, Lee Zeldin, outperformed expectations when he came within six points of toppling Hochul. That was thanks in part to Zeldin’s strong showing on Long Island, which he, like Blakeman, calls home.
Blakeman is hoping his fellow Republicans took notice. “ I spend 99% of my time on Long Island,” he said. “So I think I know that pretty well.”
Chapin Fay, a longtime New York Republican strategist not working for either candidate, said Stefanik — who has represented a district in northern New York since 2015 — would have to spend time ingratiating herself with voters on Long Island, the densely populated New York City suburbs that have tilted red in recent elections. And Blakeman would have to spend time doing the same in Republican strongholds in upstate New York — rural and suburban areas across a wide geographic swath — in a way Stefanik wouldn’t.
Rep. Elise Stefanik has announced a run for governor.
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
But Fay said both Stefanik and Blakeman would be wise to focus on heavily Democratic New York City, where Republicans need to limit their margin of defeat to have any chance of winning statewide. Zeldin took home 30% of the vote in the five boroughs during his closer-than-expected race against Hochul.
“ Neither of them are gonna be governor without a very strong New York City plan,” Fay said. “[Blakeman] is from the same media market down here. [Stefanik] is not, but that's not anything she can’t make up for.”
Trump could help clear the field for one candidate or another with his endorsement. If he throws his support behind one of the candidates, much of the Republican Party apparatus would likely fall in line.
Trump tapped Stefanik to become ambassador to the United Nations before changing course earlier this year amid concerns about creating a vacancy in the closely divided House of Representatives. Blakeman, meanwhile, said he told Trump he’d be exploring a gubernatorial run after the president called him to congratulate him on his reelection.
“He didn't discourage me,” Blakeman said.
Stefanik did not mention Blakeman by name in a post on social media Thursday. She touted her endorsements from a slew of Republican officials, including Pataki and a majority of county chairs. She also pointed to a recent poll showing a majority of voters say it’s “time for someone new” to lead the state.
“These numbers are a preview of next year's referendum on [Hochul] when we will win this fight to SAVE New York!” Stefanik posted on X.
Blakeman said he'll ultimately respect his party's wishes.
“Competition is good,” he said. “If people think that I'm the best candidate and that I would make the best governor, they'll make their voices heard in the party. And if they think it's Elise, then I'll support Elise 100%.”
Tagged
Bruce Blakeman
Politics
governor
new york state
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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