New York’s Republican convention this week was supposed to be a crowning moment for Bruce Blakeman, the party’s presumptive nominee for governor.
Instead, he spent its opening day on Monday batting away criticism from a prominent right-wing provocateur and scrambling to find a running mate after a sheriff he had tapped for the job withdrew hours before their first planned joint appearance.
By Monday afternoon, Mr. Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, was in recovery mode. His campaign said that Todd Hood, a different sheriff from upstate New York, would stand for nomination with him on Wednesday.
Still, the unusually public saga cast an embarrassing shadow over the start of the proceeding — one that served to remind Republicans of their party’s thin bench and dimming electoral prospects in New York.
Democrats working for Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has herself struggled to lock down a running mate after a split with her lieutenant governor, skewered Mr. Blakeman. They drew up their own mock shortlist of running mates that included Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary; Kid Rock; and Kanye West.
Republican leaders, including some involved in the search for a lieutenant governor nominee, were frustrated by the unforced error, but argued that the reversal would soon be forgotten.
“Clearly not great optics,” said Steven F. McLaughlin, the Republican Rensselaer County executive, who had been under consideration for the job. “Not something that anybody would want to happen. But is it a lasting effect? I don’t think so.”
A spokesman for Mr. Blakeman did not respond to several requests for comment.
As Ms. Hochul — who served as lieutenant governor under Andrew M. Cuomo — knows better than most, part of the problem is structural. The role can often be thankless, even for those who make it to office. Ms. Hochul’s first lieutenant governor resigned amid corruption charges; her second went rogue and is now running against her in the Democratic primary; and several candidates she approached this time told her they were not interested.
But Mr. Blakeman faces another challenge in persuading someone to join his ticket. Republicans have not won a statewide race in New York in two decades, and polls suggest he will begin this year’s race 20 to 30 points behind Ms. Hochul.
Mr. Blakeman privately offered the position to several Republicans in recent weeks, including Will Barclay, the State Assembly minority leader; Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh; and John Garcia, the Erie County sheriff, according to two people familiar with the discussions. All of them turned him down.
With time running short this past weekend, Mr. Blakeman believed he had finally found his man: Sheriff Richard C. Giardino of Fulton County. Sheriff Giardino had the law enforcement background Republicans typically like on their tickets, and from his perch northwest of Albany, he could have helped balance out Mr. Blakeman’s downstate lineage.
The two men began making plans for the sheriff to travel to Long Island on Monday so they could rally together as the convention formally got underway.
The trouble began Sunday night, though, when The New York Post and other news outlets began reporting that Sheriff Giardino was joining the ticket, citing people close to the discussions.
The news caught the attention of Laura Loomer, the far-right activist with close ties to the White House. She posted a screenshot showing that Sheriff Giardino had briefly run for president in the 2024 New Hampshire primary, and used it to begin forcefully attacking the pick as hostile to President Trump.
“Nobody in New York should vote for Bruce Blakeman,” she wrote. “He is a sleeper cell pulling for the Democrats, clearly. Why would anyone vote for Blakeman and his anti-Trump LG?”
The post circulated among Mr. Blakeman’s team, which reached out to Sheriff Giardino to ask why he had not disclosed the presidential run, the sheriff said in an interview on Monday.
“It wasn’t one of those, ‘get out or else’ conversations,” he said. “It was: ‘You failed to disclose this. You probably should have let us know.’”
Sheriff Giardino said that the New Hampshire campaign had been mostly a lark. He ran, he said, to try to draw attention to law enforcement issues and fulfill a childhood dream, but pulled out before voting occurred. He said he had never opposed Mr. Trump, and had merely forgotten to relay the episode to those vetting his potential New York candidacy.
The sheriff said Mr. Blakeman offered him the lieutenant governor position on Saturday. He responded positively, he said, but did not formally accept. He said he began to have second thoughts about his ability to both campaign and do his job as sheriff around the time news reports began circulating on Sunday.
“He said, ‘If you’re interested, it’s yours,’” Sheriff Giardino said. “He said, ‘Be sure you want to do this; think about it.’ And I thought about it and I don’t think it’s feasible to serve two masters.”
Benjamin Oreskes contributed reporting.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government.
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