Long Island Republican Bruce Blakeman is putting his own MAGA spin on his 2026 gubernatorial campaign — vowing to “Make New Yorkers Happy Again.”
The new campaign slogan, hatched while appearing on Miranda Devine’s “Pod Force One,” comes as the GOP nominee — and current Nassau County Executive — looks to increase his visibility statewide to help close a 13-point Siena poll gap against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“[New Yorkers] want a governor that’s going to care about them. They want a governor that will put New Yorkers first,” Blakeman told Devine.
“They want a governor that will make them happy again, because they’re not very happy with Kathy Hochul.”
Devine responded: “I love that as a slogan: ‘Make New Yorkers Happy Again,’” to which Blakeman replied “that’s really what it’s all about.”
The Albany hopeful, who has been backed by President Trump, plans to turnaround the state, if elected in November, by mirroring what he’s already done in Nassau County, he said — touting his conservative record of being “tough on crime,” governing four years without a tax hike, and killing a $150 million tax hike that his predecessor, Democrat Laura Curran, had planned before leaving office.
Blakeman said he intends to run on his record as he works to boost his name recognition outside Long Island, calling the path to closing the gap “a function of fundraising” and getting around an expansive state where, he noted, Nassau County alone is larger in population than eight US states.
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Although he’s currently trailing Hochul in the polls, Blakeman said he’s down less than Lee Zeldin was — 22 points — at the same point four years ago before losing to her in a nail biter.
His campaign released an internal poll last week claiming he was down by only 9 points, and his own tracking has him ahead in the suburbs and winning more support among voters in the city than the Siena poll indicated.
Blakeman also told Devine that he’s the “only one that can stop” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani -– citing the governor’s power to limit or even remove the Big Apple’s socialist head honcho.
“The only one that can stop Zohran Mamdani is the governor, and Kathy Hochul has demonstrated that she’s in bed with him. She’s not going to stop him,” he said.
But the Long Islander has considerable ground to make up both in the polls and in fundraising.
She currently has over $20 million in her campaign war chest, while Blakeman has raised just $3.2 million, according to the latest campaign filings.
Mamdani called out the county executive at an unrelated childcare press conference Monday.
“We’re talking about a man who espouses so much of what has diminished New Yorkers’ faith in politics across the city and across the state,” Hizzoner said.
“Someone who looks at what ICE is doing and thinks it’s exactly what the city needs to see.” If he wins in November, Blakeman said New Yorkers can guarantee he will put the screws to Mamdani.
“There’s only one thing that I can assure you with a 100% guarantee. … I will stop him,” he said.
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But the Long Islander has considerable ground to make up both in the polls and in fundraising.
Hochul currently has over $20 million in her campaign war chest, while Blakeman has raised just $3.2 million, according to the latest campaign filings.
“We’re going to win,” an undeterred Blakeman told Devine, although the task just got harder after Democrats on the state Public Campaign Finance Board voted Tuesday 4-3 along party lines to deny Blakeman millions in matching funds over a paperwork technicality.
He attacked Hochul’s tenure in Albany as a “failure” marked by overtaxation, overregulation and “pro-criminal” policies that he said sent residents fleeing the Empire State in droves.
“By the way, I did go down to Palm Beach. I did go down to Florida. I talked to those New Yorkers who left,” Blakeman claimed.
“And they said when I’m governor they’re coming back.”
A spokesperson for City Hall did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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