Blakeman kicks off listening tour of NYS, says he's best qualified to defeat Hochul for governor

ALBANY — His "experience, record and qualifications" in running one of the largest counties in the nation make him the Republican best positioned to take on Gov. Kathy Hochul, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said Thursday as he kicked off a listening tour to gauge support.

Blakeman, fresh off a resounding reelection win last week, said he’s the strongest candidate for the party despite many Republicans lining up already behind North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Both are strong allies of President Donald Trump, who has never won New York.

Standing on a State Capitol lawn, Blakeman said he and Stefanik support the same things. He said she would be a good candidate, but "is she the best candidate? That is the question."

"Experience, record, qualifications and as I’ve said I’ve run a county that’s larger than 10 states in population," Blakeman said about what he called his stronger qualifications. "We did it by not raising taxes. ... And we’re the safest county in America. So I think I have a record to run on."

He said the party doesn’t "coronate" candidates.

"Also, I have an ability to reach into communities that Republicans traditionally haven’t been able to reach into," the county executive said, referring to his 12-point win last week in Nassau, where Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans and most independents favored Blakeman. It was one of the few bright spots for New York Republicans this election cycle.

"If you can’t do that, you can’t win statewide office," he said.

Some Stefanik critics have said she’s only won in a heavily Republican, safely-GOP district.

Blakeman said he would visit Plattsburgh next — close the Canadian border and within Stefanik’s district — then the Buffalo area and the Southern Tier. He said he expects to make a decision on running in the next "two to three weeks."

Stefanik has secured the endorsements of State Republican Chairman Ed Cox and others, though such endorsements haven’t prevented GOP primaries, lately in 2022.

That year, Republican Lee Zeldin, then a Long Island Congressman, came within 7 points of defeating Hochul, a Democrat and the state’s first female governor. That was closer than the GOP had come to winning the race in decades and fuels their optimism this time.

Blakeman said Hochul has had four years in office since then and has been a "disaster." Asked, however, about the possible impact of Trump, who isn’t popular in a state where Dems outnumber Republicans 2-1, Blakeman talked about the president’s tax cuts and moves to restrict immigration and boost manufacturing jobs.

He said he spoke to Trump on election night and that he was "willing to sit down and talk about" Blakeman’s potential run for governor.

"His long-term view of America is, I think, the right way to go," Blakeman said.

Democratic Party spokesman Addison Dick blasted Hochul's potential rivals, saying: "Bruce Blakeman and Elise Stefanik’s race to the far-right is all about who can deliver Trump’s deeply unpopular agenda to jack up costs, rip away health care, and sell out New Yorkers’ safety."

Newsday's Bahar Ostadan contributed to this story.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy