Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman suddenly emerged as the presumptive Republican nominee for governor of New York in December, with Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) unexpected exit from the race against Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

Now, with the formal endorsement of President Donald Trump, Blakeman is preparing for an uphill battle in a reliably Democratic state.

Blakeman, 70, is Jewish and said he represents the greatest number of constituents of any Jewish Republican elected official — more than 1.3 million. He vowed to protect the Jewish community statewide against antisemitism, and pledged that under his leadership, the state would step in if New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani fails to do so.

Blakeman said that he has worked with the Nassau County police to deal with disruptive anti-Israel protests, setting firm rules for demonstrators, with prompt arrests if they stepped outside of those boundaries.

“If they got off the sidewalk, they would be given one chance to get back on it or they’d be arrested,” Blakeman said. “We didn’t take any nonsense. We didn’t allow them to do the things that they got away with in New York City. And that’s the same way I would approach it as governor.”

“Nick Fuentes is, in my opinion, a nut, but a dangerous one, and he has no place in the Republican Party,” Blakeman said. “Tucker Carlson is a big blowhard who has an issue with Jewish people, and it probably emanates from his chameleon-like personality. … He’s very unprincipled and I think he has biases that probably emanated from his youth.”

Blakeman said that if Mamdani fails to enforce the law, he would dispatch state police and national guard to do so. “We will not let any community be lawless, and I will not tolerate any acts of bigotry, antisemitism or racism in a state where I’m the governor.”

Asked about voices like Tucker Carlson and neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes who are working to mainstream antisemitic ideas in the Republican Party, Blakeman did not mince words in his condemnation.

“Nick Fuentes is, in my opinion, a nut, but a dangerous one, and he has no place in the Republican Party,” Blakeman said. “Tucker Carlson is a big blowhard who has an issue with Jewish people, and it probably emanates from his chameleon-like personality. … He’s very unprincipled and I think he has biases that probably emanated from his youth.”

At the same time, Blakeman argued that he sees most antisemitism in the United States coming from the left, pointing to the large-scale turn against Israel in the Democratic Party.

“We have a couple of nuts in our party, but certainly [they are the] vast minority, and in the Democratic Party, it seems to me that they have completely abandoned Israel and that they are a hotbed for antisemitic activities,” Blakeman said.

He predicted those trends will help his campaign capture a significant number of Jewish Democratic voters who “realize that the Democratic Party has become an extreme party that’s hostile to Israel and hostile to Jewish people.”

He said he feels it’s important for the Republican Party to have “a strong Jewish presence” and that he takes his responsibility in that role seriously, saying he wants to be a “role model” for other Jewish people to get involved in GOP politics.

“I am a strong supporter of Israel,” Blakeman said. “I am a Zionist and a proud Zionist.”

“It’s something that I don’t take lightly as being a leader and someone who is a Jew and in the Republican Party,” Blakeman said.

Blakeman said he’s established a strong record as an ally and supporter of Israel in Nassau County, building business ties to Israel, implementing anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation and signing friendship agreements with what he called Judea and Samaria — the biblical term preferred by the Israeli government for the West Bank — and the Shomron Regional Council, a council of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“I am a strong supporter of Israel,” Blakeman said. “I am a Zionist and a proud Zionist.”

He said he’s currently under contract to buy an apartment in Beit Shemesh, as an investment.

Asked about the role his Jewish faith has played in his time in office and public life, the Nassau County executive responded, “Everything that I do emanates from the strength that’s given to me by Hashem, by God. So I am very mindful that it’s only with God’s blessings that I have the strength to do what I’m doing.” 

“I ask for God’s blessings each and every day, and I pray every day, and I feel that having that spiritual connection with God is a very important part of my life,” he continued.

Blakeman said his campaign will focus on improving public safety, lowering prices for businesses and residents, making the state government more responsive and stopping the population flight from the state, issues he said are being driven by incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat.

He framed Nassau County, under his leadership, as a counterpoint to those trends, pointing to the county’s low taxes and strong financial position. “If we can do that on the state level, I’m  sure people will be happy. They’ll want to do business here. They want to live here, and they will flourish and prosper.”

“I want to make people happy. I want them to be proud of New York. I want them to want to raise their children and their grandchildren,” Blakeman said. 

He said that his past victories in a Democratic-leaning county provide a model for winning statewide in deep-blue New York, arguing that he’s been able to reach populations that haven’t traditionally voted Republican, including Hispanic, Latino, Asian American, women and African American voters.

Asked about Mamdani’s victory in New York City, Blakeman said that Mamdani’s focus on affordability “struck a note with a lot of voters,” but New York City Republicans “didn’t have an adequate message with respect to that issue — and I do.”

Blakeman said he wants to create jobs and make the state more prosperous, rather than providing “a free bus ride or a handout,” spurring economic development and job creation in collaboration with the business community and unions.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) announced on Friday that she was ending her campaign for governor of New York, an abrupt and unexpected move that comes just over a month after the Republican congresswoman launched her bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul.

In addition to not running for governor, Stefanik said in a statement posted to social media that she also would not seek reelection to her House seat, making her future plans unclear. Stefanik said the decision to end her short-lived gubernatorial bid was based on her desire to spend more time with family and the uphill battle she would face in the general election after what would likely be a bruising Republican primary battle.

“While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” Stefanik wrote on social media.

Stefanik added, “As we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.”

“And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom. I believe that being a parent is life’s greatest gift and greatest responsibility,” she continued. “I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don’t further focus on my young son’s safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age.”

Stefanik’s withdrawal from the race came weeks after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, another close ally of President Donald Trump, jumped into the GOP primary, setting up a competitive fight ahead of what would be a difficult general election contest for Republicans in the blue state. 

Stefanik was briefly Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, though she withdrew her nomination as it became clear that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could not afford another vacancy in the House without risking Republicans’ already slim majority. 

Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social platform after Stefanik announced her decision, “Elise is a tremendous talent, regardless of what she does. … She will have GREAT success, and I am with her all the way!”

Johnson, meanwhile, wrote on X, “I know this was a tough decision for my friend and colleague @EliseStefanik, but her resolve to put family first is one that everyone will respect. Elise is an exceptional talent who has served the people of New York valiantly in Congress.”

“She will continue to be [a] leading force for our party and its principles no matter what the next chapter brings,” he added. “We are grateful for her service and wish her well in her next endeavors.”

The upstate New York lawmaker, a pro-Israel stalwart in Congress, had said during her confirmation process earlier this year that anti-Israel and antisemitic bias at the U.N. was a major factor that drove her interest in the Turtle Bay role. As she began considering entering the governor’s race this fall, Stefanik became a vocal critic of Hochul, frequently tying her to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his policies.

Stefanik has gained attention in the Jewish community in the two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, most notably due to her aggressive questioning of university presidents about campus antisemitism.