Last month, when Congresswoman Elise Stefanik announced her run for New York governor, dozens of lawmakers at the state and federal level tripped over themselves to back the North Country representative’s bid. After Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman announced his own campaign on Tuesday, however, Ms. Stefanik made clear that she is not resting on the commanding polling and fundraising lead she has in the race for the Republican nomination. 

Ms. Stefanik has represented the northeastern part of the state in Congress for more than a decade. She previously served as the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the House before stepping down from the position after President Trump nominated her to be his United Nations ambassador. 

After that nomination was pulled earlier this year, she announced in November that she would run for governor in her home state. 

“The Empire State has fallen,” a narrator in Ms. Stefanik’s announcement video said. “And Kathy Hochul’s failed policies are to blame.”

Mr. Blakeman on Tuesday highlighted his own record in a launch video as a conservative Republican able to win in blue territory. Despite a significant swing back toward Democrats across the country last month, Mr. Blakeman won re-election as Nassau County executive by 12 points — a 16-point overperformance compared to Mr. Trump’s 2024 margin, who won the county by only four points. 

“The Republican Party shined bright on Long Island,” a narrator says in his announcement video, contrasting his win to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory. “Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman won a Democrat county by 12 percent.”

In response, Ms. Stefanik went squarely at her opponent as being too liberal to win the coming primary and general elections. 

“Her record is in stark contrast to Bruce Blakeman who is anti-[Second Amendment],” Ms. Stefanik’s campaign said in a statement, calling such a position “the kiss of death Upstate.”

The congresswoman says Mr. Blakeman “has a record of donating to and supporting corrupt Far Left Democrats” and a history of losing “numerous statewide, federal, and local races in smashing fashion before finally being propped up by a strong county infrastructure.”

“Bruce Blakeman is an early Christmas present to Kathy Hochul as he works to blow Republicans’ best chance to win,” Ms. Stefanik’s team wrote. 

Minutes later, Ms. Stefanik’s campaign sent out an article from the Daily Mail highlighting Mr. Blakeman’s ties to top New York Democrats — both of whom resigned from office as a result of sex scandals. Mr. Blakeman’s consulting group donated to both Governor Eliot Spitzker’s 2006 campaign, as well as a group supporting Congressman Anthony Weiner’s possible run for New York City mayor in 2007, which ultimately did not materialize. 

The same morning, Ms. Stefanik’s campaign sent out an opinion piece from Shooting News Weekly, which called Mr. Blakeman and “obscure anti-gun” politician who was going to “muck up” Republicans’ opportunity to defeat Governor Kathy Hochul. 

Democrats were unable to hide their joy after Mr. Blakeman announced his campaign on Tuesday. The Democratic Governors Association released a memo calling a Stefanik–Blakeman primary the “worst-case scenario” for the GOP. 

“Elise Stefanik and Blakeman are both openly and furiously campaigning for Trump’s endorsement — in a state where the President and his agenda of gutting health care and jacking up costs are deeply unpopular,” the DGA wrote. Democrats believe that Ms. Stefanik and Mr. Blakeman will be “falling over themselves” to win Mr. Trump’s endorsement, which may end up hurting them in a general election in a state Vice President Kamala Harris won last year. 

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has signaled that he may stay out of the primary. 

“He’s great and she’s great. They’re both great people,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting last week when asked if he would endorse in the primary. “We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party.”