Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who won reelection in Long Island County earlier this week, threw cold water on Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) newly launched 2026 campaign against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) reelection bid.
Blakeman, a possible Republican contender for next year’s gubernatorial race, doubted Stefanik’s chances of beating Hochul based on her limited appeal to all voters.
“I have tremendous respect for Elise, however our party must nominate a candidate that has broad based appeal with independents and common sense Democrats,” he said on Friday. “The party must nominate the candidate with the best chance to defeat Kathy Hochul, and I have been urged by business, community and political leaders across the state to make the run and I am seriously considering it.”
Blakeman’s statement dropped hours after Stefanik announced her campaign against Hochul, whom the congresswoman attacked on affordability, high taxes, and crime committed by illegal immigrants.
In response, the Democratic incumbent called the Republican challenger a “sellout” to President Donald Trump. “She’ll always put Donald Trump ahead of you,” the video’s narrator said.
Meanwhile, Blakeman introduces a complication in the New York Republican Party’s nonexistent plans for a contested GOP primary if he ultimately decides to run for governor.
“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,” New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox said in his endorsement of Stefanik, who declared herself the presumptive Republican nominee.
The New York State Democratic Party said that was a “premature” move on Stefanik’s part, criticizing the start to her campaign.
“Stefanik and Blakeman are both fighting for Trump, not New York. They want to bring his deeply unpopular agenda to the Empire State – raising costs, cutting healthcare, and crushing New York families,” a New York Democratic spokesperson said. “Whichever Trump enabler stumbles out of the GOP primary will be too damaged and too tied to Trump’s toxic agenda to win next November.”
Blakeman was one of a few notable Republicans who won their elections as Democrats swept Virginia, New Jersey, New York City, and elsewhere. He thanked voters for turning out to support him, appearing to cast himself as a more appealing candidate than Stefanik.
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“I am grateful that in Nassau County, with 110,000 more Democrats than Republicans, I just won reelection with a 36,000 vote margin, winning over 60% of independent voters and an unusually large percentage of Democrat voters,” the local Republican said.
As for the upcoming contest between Stefanik and Hochul, a Siena College poll from September shows the incumbent with a 25-point lead despite New York voters’ dissatisfaction with her job performance. A Manhattan Institute poll published last week has Stefanik in the lead by one point.