Bruce Blakeman’s gubernatorial bid is off to a rocky start.
The New York Republican this week announced that he would mount a primary challenge to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R.) in one of the most closely-watched gubernatorial races of the coming midterm election cycle. Stefanik, who last month announced that she would run against New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D.), was expected to cinch the Republican nomination.
But Blakeman, county executive for Nassau County on Long Island, had an early advantage: a New York Times story, released shortly after he announced his bid, which revealed that President Trump “did not go so far as to dissuade him” from challenging Stefanik, a key Trump ally.
The Times story fueled early speculation that Trump may not get involved in the primary — or make a double endorsement, as he’s been known to do — two things that would likely help Blakeman.
But the Times issued a major correction just hours after publication, amending the story to say that the original story “inaccurately described President Trump’s phone call with Bruce Blakeman,” and that the president “tried to dissuade Mr. Blakeman from running in the Republican primary,” but “stopped short of explicitly telling Mr. Blakeman not to run.”
It’s unclear who leaked details of the call that led to the initial story. Trump equivocated when asked about the primary Monday, saying “I’ll think about it, but he’s great and she’s great,” adding, “We have a lot of great people in the Republican party.”
The Blakeman campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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A recent poll has Stefanik beating Blakeman with 74% of the vote in a primary challenge, the New York Post reported last month. The congresswoman also garnered the backing of 58 Republican Party county chairs, giving her over 75% of the party’s “weighted vote,” meaning she will likely not need to petition in order to get on the ballot
Blakeman will almost certainly have to gather 15,000 signatures to make it onto the ballot. The Nassau County Executive has attempted to pitch his candidacy as something Republicans should welcome, saying, “We’re not like the Democratic Party that had a coronation for Kamala Harris.”
Stefanik, who was once Trump’s pick to be the United Nations ambassador, touted a long list of local endorsements, including county executives and state lawmakers, following Blakeman’s entrance into the race.
New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov blasted Blakeman’s entrance into the race in an X post without explicitly naming him, calling it “the height of political malpractice” to primary the congresswoman.
“Elise will out raise any primary opponent by significant #-s, will kill on the debate stage (if it even gets to that, doubt it), and will generally wipe the floor with them on primary night. Why attempt to take out your own party’s candidate with major name rec. when the majority of your party supports her and when that candidate is well positioned to beat Kathy Hochul?” she wrote.
“Why not help us beat the Democrats instead of beating up on our candidate before she moves on to the General? But more than that, why cause yourself the embarrassment and lose support in the one county where you are actually popular and well liked? Because that county will also vote for Elise for Governor … This is what happens when politicians are only out for themselves, and think they’re better and smarter than everyone else. Suit yourselves,” the councilwoman added.
The Hochul campaign is referring to the Republicans as “Sellout Stefanik” and “Bootlicker Blakeman.”
The primary is on June 23. The race will likely get heightened attention not only with the big names already involved, but it could also prove to be a litmus test for how the state is reacting to New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s early days in power.
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