(The Center Square) — Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman formally won the Republican Party’s nomination to run for governor on Wednesday, setting up a clash with incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the November elections.
Blakeman accepted the party’s nomination at the final day of the state GOP’s three-day convention on Long Island. He and his newly announced running-mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, are hoping to win back the governor’s office for Republicans for the first time in more than two decades.
Blakeman, who is running with President Donald Trump’s endorsement, hammered away at Hochul’s tenure in the governor’s office and painted a dystopian picture of the state in his acceptance speech.
“Kathy Hochul has put our state in crisis,” Blakeman said in remarks. “Taxes are souring. Electric bills and insurance premiums keep climbing out of control. Crime is rising. Businesses are leaving the state in record numbers. Families and seniors are being priced out of their homes.”
Trump recorded a video, which was shown on Wednesday at the convention, endorsing Blakeman’s bid for governor and praising him for his work on immigration and public safety as county executive.
“Bruce Blakeman will make New York safe and strong and honest and prosperous again,” Trump said.
Blakeman is a fixture in Long Island politics and a longtime supporter of President Trump, and has embraced many of the president’s conservative policies on immigration and social issues. He gained national notoriety last year after he pushed through a law that bars transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports at county-run facilities.
He emerged as the front runner GOP candidate for the nomination after Rep. Elise Stefanik, D-NY, dropped out of the race.
His nomination comes less than a week after Hochul and her running mate, former New York City Council Speaker Adriene Adams, easily secured the backing of the state’s Democratic Party to run in November, fending off a long-shot challenge from her second in command, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, and his running mate, India Walton, both of whom failed to win a spot on the ballot.
Hochul’s campaign has criticized Blakeman’s candidacy, calling him a “MAGA fan-boy” and a “bootlicker” who “has lost just about every race he’s touched — county legislator, comptroller, Congress, even U.S. Senate.”
The GOP also nominated Saritha Komatireddy, a federal prosecutor, to challenge incumbent Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James in November’s election. James, a Trump critic, is seeking another term in office. The party also tapped Joseph Hernandez as the GOP candidate for state Comptroller to challenge incumbent Democrat Tom DiNapoli, who has held the office since 2007.
