In his first speech since becoming the sole Republican candidate for governor of New York state, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman on Friday embraced classic GOP issues like lowering taxes and focusing on public safety, and he didn’t hide his support for President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a fundraiser at the Twin Ponds Golf and Country Club in Oneida County, Blakeman said he would run the state like a business if elected, and create economic prosperity by lowering taxes.
“I will treat government like I’m spending your tax dollars,” Blakeman said, saying he didn’t raise taxes in four years as county executive.
He said under his leadership, New York would not be a sanctuary state, and he would work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove illegal migrants that break the law.
He added that he stood shoulder to shoulder with Trump on the issue.
Blakeman said he took that very message to Hispanic and Latino voters in Nassau County and won a majority of their support. He said the reason he was running for governor was because as he travels the state, New Yorkers are basically miserable.
“As I travel around the state, I’m going to talk about my record,” Blakeman said. “I know what works and what doesn’t work.”
A key question is what Elise Stefanik’s exit from the race means for Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Larry Levy, executive dean at the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, told Spectrum News 1 that while the absence of Stefanik’s aggressive campaign tactics against her may be a relief in terms of rhetoric, the budding primary matchup which had materialized over the past few weeks would likely have served the incumbent well.
“It’s not the greatest thing for the governor because having two candidates beat each other trying to sound more like President Trump than the other in a state with Trump‘s approval rating in the 20s or low 30s is something she really could’ve sat back and enjoyed, as she said. Now, Blakeman can pivot right to her,” he said.
Democratic Strategist Trip Yang offered another assessment, arguing that Hochul will benefit from having Blakeman in the top spot rather than Stefanik, which was the case for months, because Stefanik has more name recognition and more money.
“Bruce Blakeman is largely unknown for New York voters. He doesn’t have the war chest, he just announced a couple days ago. So if you’re the Hochul campaign, you have an opportunity both through earned media, surrogates and potentially paid ads to really define Bruce Blakeman’s extremist, MAGA, sucking up to Trump, record,” Yang said.