NY1: Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is expected to announce he’s running for New York governor on Tuesday, sources told NY1.
Blakeman’s expected entry follows weeks of travel across the state as he was mulling a run.
His candidacy makes him the second GOP candidate, following upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, who made her campaign official in November. Both are allies of President Donald Trump.
Asked Monday during a press conference in Washington, D.C., whether he would weigh in on a GOP primary contest, Trump praised both Republicans: “He’s great and she’s great,”
“I’ll think about it,” he added.
In a statement, Bernadette Breslin, a spokesperson for Stefanik, said, “Even those in Nassau County who are closest to Bruce Blakeman will tell you that everyone knows he has no shot and is putting his raging ego first and New Yorkers last as he blows up the best opportunity in a generation to Save New York.”
“Blakeman was discouraged from running at the highest levels so as not to jeopardize Republicans’ chances. It is unfortunate that he is putting his ego first to help prop up Kathy Hochul,” Breslin’s statement goes on to say.
When asked about a potential Republican primary earlier Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said to let those candidates “out MAGA each other.”
“Let them go at it. Let’s see how they out MAGA each other in the primary. It doesn’t matter which Trump cheerleader decides to run against me. The narrative is the same. I am going to keep governing and showing what we’re doing to deliver for people, that affordability is not a phrase that is denigrated the way Donald Trump seems to not even understand what affordability is. We’re actually doing something about it,” she said.
