Trump endorses Blakeman for NY governor after Stefanik drops out

María Paula Mijares Torres, Bloomberg News on Dec 20, 2025

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President Donald Trump endorsed Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman for New York governor a day after Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, another long-time ally of the president, dropped out of the race.

“Bruce is MAGA all the way, and has been with me from the very beginning,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday, adding Blakeman will work to grow the state’s economy and cut taxes.

Stefanik, 41, was widely expected to be the Republican nominee until Blakeman entered the race against Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul. Her decision to drop the bid and also not seek reelection to Congress was unexpected, but she faced an uphill battle: The lawmaker trailed Hochul by 19 percentage point in a Siena Research Institute poll released earlier this week.

“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,” Stefanik wrote on X Friday.

Blakeman, 70, was elected as county executive of Nassau County on Long Island in 2021, where he has focused on police hiring and cooperation with federal officials for immigration measures. Trump endorsed Blakeman’s bid for reelection as county executive in May but had previously declined to take a side in the Republican race for New York governor, instead praising both Stefanik and Blakeman.

“For too long Albany has been controlled by one party, the Democrats,” Blakeman’s campaign video said when he announced his run for governor last week. “We need a strong Republican, one who will take the fight to Hochul and her liberal policies that are causing taxes, utility bills and crime to soar.”

Siena’s poll also showed Blakeman trailing Hochul by 25 percentage points, underscoring the challenges that Republicans face in statewide elections for the Democratic stronghold.

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(With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.)