President Trump endorses Bruce Blakeman for county executive re-election

President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, backing a close ally who is running for reelection in November.

"Bruce is MAGA all the way, and has been with us from the very beginning," Trump posted Tuesday night on his social media site Truth Social. "Bruce Blakeman has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"

Blakeman thanked Trump for the endorsement in a statement. "Upon taking office I declared that Nassau County was not a Sanctuary County, or a welcome place for criminals," he wrote. "I admire President Trump’s courage, resilience, and leadership."

Nassau Legis. Seth Koslow (D-Merrick), who is running against Blakeman in November took aim at the county executive's alliance with Trump.

"That’s the difference between Bruce Blakeman and me — he’s beholden to the unpredictable whims of one man, while I am accountable to the 1.4 million residents of Nassau County," Koslow said in a statement to Newsday.

"Our community deserves leadership grounded in local priorities, not national political loyalty tests," he said.

Trump also endorsed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River), who is up for re-election next year.

Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win a majority of Nassau voters in more than three decades. He hosted a rally at the Nassau Coliseum shortly before the November election, and visited Long Island University in December for an awards show hosted by Fox Nation.

Blakeman has centered much of his policies and campaign for reelection on localizing a national agenda, becoming one of the first county executives this year to push Trump’s mass deportation plan by embedding local Nassau police with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also barred transgender women from playing women’s sports on Nassau property, echoing a nationwide push that Trump made on his first day in office.

The first-term county executive has followed through on several promises he’d made since taking office in 2022, vowing to crack down on immigration and not increase property taxes. Blakeman has kept Nassau property taxes flat, carrying on a legacy of county executives across both parties who freeze property value assessments. He also touted his success in brokering an agreement with Las Vegas Sands for a $6 billion casino resort at the Nassau Coliseum. Sands announced last month it was no longer pursuing with the deal.

At a rally in the Bronx last spring, Trump called Blakeman to the stage, introducing him as a "real star in politics." The president also shouted out Blakeman in his speech unveiling tariffs at the White House last month. Blakeman, who was seated behind Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, gave Trump a thumbs up.

Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, considered whether Trump's endorsement of Blakeman would help or hurt his campaign.

"Endorsements tend not to move the dial one way or another, but they can help a candidate with a particular segment of the electorate," Levy said.

"Blakeman can count on the so-called MAGA base ... but elections are generally determined by swing voters, who tend to be more moderate."

With Laura Figueroa