For Blakeman, winning is one daunting task, governing would be another
Gov. George Pataki, right, and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Troy) on June 21, 2004, in upstate Malta, where the two joined other leaders and state officials to make an economic announcement as the legislative session neared its end. Credit: AP / Jim McKnight
A steep and tricky climb awaits Bruce Blakeman if he intends to reach the coveted realm of major league governance by succeeding Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Even if the MAGA Republican rises meteorically from Nassau County executive to New York governor, he'd then face a rocky yearslong path to achieve success in office.
Coming as he does from a party that has been rendered marginal in Albany in recent years, can a putative Gov. Blakeman amass the necessary support and alliances to win and then thrive?
One stubborn fact is that houses of the State Legislature are widely expected to keep their lopsided Democratic majorities. Nobody can confidently predict when either chamber might ever flip to the GOP.
In the Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie has a 103-47 edge, In the State Senate, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has a caucus of 41 to Minority Leader Rob Ortt's 22 members. Stewart-Cousins' political team this season is working on ways to peel off one more seat. If that happens, her caucus would command a veto-proof two-thirds majority as does Heastie's. Even if it doesn't, she's likely to stay on solid footing.
Every governor depends on the full legislature to vote their bills and budgets into law. Without at least one house allied with the executive, only sharp compromise can craft a meaningful agreement. When the last Republican governor, George Pataki, was elected for the first time in 1994, the State Senate, in which the new governor had served, was firmly in Republican hands, as was the attorney general's office.
In his county, Blakeman enjoys a very comfortable partisan ecology. The Nassau Legislature is dominated by the GOP, through which he has exercised control since 2022, sometimes high-handedly by stalling funding for projects in Democratic districts. His party is in the driver's seat on redistricting and holds the controller's office, the post of county clerk, and the district attorney's office — as well as the biggest municipality, the Town of Hempstead.
The state landscape these days is the partisan opposite of that. Along with the legislature, the attorney general's and comptroller's offices are the domain of Democrats. So is New York City which sends 21 state senators and 61 Assembly members to the Capitol. That in itself often means big clout in Albany for any mayor, including the democratic socialist incumbent, Zohran Mamdani, a nemesis of suburbanites both on the right and in the center of the political spectrum.
Enforcing an agenda, which is difficult for any governor, would likely be extra challenging for Blakeman should he win.
For years now, Republicans in the region and beyond have highlighted the turnstile impact of so-called bail reforms, first signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, as a target for voter adrenaline on the need to fight crime. New York City Councilmember Joann Ariola has been tweeting this week that "change in the governor's mansion" is "the only chance to help tame quality-of-life issues caused by crime across the Big Apple." Ariola is one of five Republicans on the 51-member council.
Just to guess a scenario: Would Blakeman be able to end cashless bail and perhaps achieve other goals by holding up and leveraging budget priorities dear to the Democrats? Would he find other ways of sidestepping reluctant lawmakers?
Until November's election returns are in, Blakeman's challenges are hypothetical.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
