The Republican challenging Hochul for the governor's seat: What to know about Bruce Blakeman

NEW YORK - Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is running for the governor's office, and he has President Donald Trump backing his campaign.

Blakeman's background, political career

Timeline:

Blakeman, who was born in Nassau County, was a partner at his father's law firm for several years. He ran as the Republican nominee for state comptroller in 1998, but was defeated by incumbent Carl McCall.

Years later, former Gov. George Pataki appointed Blakeman to be a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey – he held that position until 2009.

Blakeman then won the election for Nassau County Executive in 2021, beating out incumbent Laura Curran by a slim margin, in spite of the fact that registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 100,000 at the time.

He was then reelected in 2025 by over 10 points, defeating county legislator Seth Koslow.

Career as Nassau County executive

Dig deeper:

Only a month after beating former Nassau County Executive Curran, Blakeman announced that he would not enforce a mask mandate set into place by Gov. Kathy Hochul to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Blakeman then signed an executive order only a month later, granting school boards the ability to choose if they wanted to enforce mask mandates for their students.

The county executive touts that he hired nearly 1,000 new police and law enforcement officers over the course of his two terms.

U.S. News and World Report published an analysis of the safest communities in the country about two years ago, naming Nassau County as its top choice.

In that same year, the Nassau County executive issued an executive order banning sports organizers from county-run athletic facilities if they allow transgender girls and women to compete on female teams.

Years later, he praised the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold individual states' bans on transgender athletes competing in women's sports.

Blakeman also highlights that he eliminated $150 million in property tax hikes scheduled by his predecessor on his gubernatorial campaign website.

Running against Hochul for governor's office

The other side:

In December 2025, Blakeman revealed his plan to run against Gov. Hochul for the state's gubernatorial office.

A few months later, the Republican nominee tapped Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood to run on the ticket with him. Early in 2026, Hochul held a competitive lead on Blakeman, but the latest Siena poll shows that that lead has narrowed considerably.

Backing from President Trump

Big picture view:

The president declared his endorsement for Blakeman's run for governor weeks after his campaign was announced, calling the Republican candidate "a fantastic guy" in a post on Truth Social.

"Bruce is MAGA all the way, and has been with me from the very beginning," Trump wrote in the post. The president even came out to Long Island in August of this year to campaign for his party's nominee.

Campaign promises

What they're saying:

Blakeman highlights affordability as a reason New Yorkers should choose him over Hochul, promising on social media to lower utility bills by 50%.

He also alleges that Hochul is "the most pro-criminal governor," and promises to advocate against some of the current governor's "pro-crime" policies, such as:

• Cashless bail
• Parole board leniency
• The HALT Act

2026 ElectionsPoliticsNew YorkNassau County