Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman breezed to re-election, which his fellow Republicans say is a sign that Democrats’ tip to the left in neighboring New York City and other places will cost them in suburban and rural areas across the state and nation.
“People stood up,” said Joe Cairo, the county Republican chairman. “They want a red line between Queens and Nassau County, and tonight they proved it.”
Blakeman defeated County Legislator Seth Koslow by more than 10 points. Republicans won all four countywide offices and kept control of the county legislature and town governments.
It was a bright red spot on a night when Democrats scored wins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races as well as a redistricting plan in California. In New York City, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won with about 50% of votes in a high-turnout election, besting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a third-party line and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Hundreds of people streamed into a catering hall in Baldwin for a victory party, sipping beer and wine and eating hot dogs and Kosher soft pretzels. House music pulsed through a room filled with American flags and red, white and blue balloons. Cairo said the county GOP’s success was a testament to strong organization and candidates — and a clear foil to New York City’s mayoral election.
At previous rallies, supporters of Blakeman’s campaign wore orange shirts reading “Keep Mamdani Madness Out of Nassau.” He promised to hire more police officers in response to a Mamdani election.
“Nassau County residents love New York City and we'd hate to see something deleterious happen in New York City,” Blakeman said. “ I'm going to do whatever I need to do to keep Nassau County the safest county in America.”
The incumbent executive didn’t mention Mamdani in his victory speech, but Mamdani’s visage was a regular feature in Blakeman’s campaign materials. The Republican also touted his endorsement from President Donald Trump, who endorsed Cuomo this week and has threatened to withhold funding from New York City when Mamdani becomes mayor.
Former political columnist Larry Levy said the Nassau County election was about more than local issues.
“You'd think the candidates were not Blakeman and Kaslow, but Trump and Mamdani,” said Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.
Michael Dawidziak, a Republican political consultant, said he expects GOP candidates will continue to use Mamdani as a boogeyman in next year’s elections for federal and state races, including the New York governor’s race.
“ I think Mamdani is going to be a built-in punching bag for Donald Trump and I think he's going to use it liberally,” Dawidziak said.
That could be a unifying force for U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik or another Republican candidate during a gubernatorial bid next year.
“This is where she could stitch together a Long Island-upstate coalition, saying, ‘Look, enough is enough. These New York City policies are out of touch with our values,’” Dawidziak said. To wit, Stefanik used Mamdani’s victory to attack Gov. Kathy Hochul, who endorsed him.
“Kathy Hochul is now owned lock, stock, and barrel by the radical Far Left Socialist takeover of the New York Democrat Party under her abysmal watch,” Stefanik said in a statement.
Hochul congratulated Mamdani on his win and said she would work with him and other Democratic mayors “to lower costs and keep New Yorkers safe.”
Blakeman won more than 55% of the vote in a historically purple county. The latest voter registration data shows Democrats and Working Families Party voters number about 382,000 in Nassau, while Republicans and Conservative voters come in at about 318,000.
Outside a polling place in Rockville Centre, several voters said they were driven to come out for Blakeman because of fear about Mamdani. Dominick Milone, 73, works in construction and commutes to New York City.
“More people are going to be moving out. I'm afraid,” he said. “We're here in Nassau, so we're safe for now, but you never know.”
Bill Mohr retired in 2010 as an NYPD detective working in Brooklyn. He said he was concerned by Mamdani’s platform about policing and predicted his agenda, if implemented, might turn off voters.
“Once he actually does everything he says and he wants to give everything for free and he wants to give it to everybody, people are not going to be for that,” Mohr said. “They can say ‘tax the rich’ all they want, but you can only tax so much.”
Democrats in Nassau County have expressed concerns about Mamdani’s bid as well. U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a North Shore Democrat whose district includes parts of Queens, endorsed Cuomo and has harped on Mamdani’s identity as a democratic socialist.
“I’m a Democratic capitalist, I’m not a democratic socialist,” Suozzi said Monday on CNN.
Late Tuesday, he tweeted, “Though our views may differ, I offer my support and assistance to help move the city forward.”
