Bruce Blakeman

SCOPE had published research on Kathy Hochul and Elise Stefanik as candidates for governor.  Before Stefanik dropped out, Bruce Blakeman had announced he was also going to run for governor.  Once Stefanik dropped out, Blakeman was endorsed by the Republican and Conservative parties as well as President Trump, so it appears he is going to be the Republican candidate.

Getting right to the point, SCOPE could not find any statement about Blakeman’s position on the 2nd Amendment.  Not entirely a surprise in politics around NY City.  But there are some hopeful signs and perhaps, as the campaign continues, he will become more acquainted with 2A and make its defense a campaign issue. 

Blakeman has had one instance involving 2A.  After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he helped conduct a rifle drive which resulted in the collection of 60 rifles for Ukraine.  Kel-Tec delivered the donated guns to Ukraine as part of a larger shipment.

Since that’s all we have on 2A, here’s some background on Blakeman.

In 2021, Blakeman was elected Nassau County Executive with 50.35% of the vote.  This was surprising since the county has 110,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

In 2025, Blakeman was reelected by a bigger margin of 12%, even though the Democrats still had a 110,000-voter registration advantage.  So, in a Democrat county, Blakeman won twice and increased his margin.  Something to note in Democrat controlled New York State.

Bruce Blakeman is a lawyer and has also served in unelected posts.  He was a commissioner for the New York-New Jersey Port Authority, a Nassau County legislator and Hempstead town councilman.  In 2017, Blakeman endorsed a Democratic in the race for Hempstead Town Supervisor.  The Democrat won and named Blakeman Deputy Town Supervisor.  Then, in 2019, Blakeman endorsed a Republican for Town Supervisor against his former endorsee; the Republican won.

His actions on hot topics may give us some clues about him.

Blakeman opposes the 2019 New York bail reform and has called for its repeal. He issued an executive order permitting the Nassau County Police Department to disclose when a person released without bail is rearrested.

Blakeman created a patrol unit within the Nassau County Police Department modeled on the NYPD's "Hercules" counterterrorism unit.

Blakeman recruited 75 people for a force of "special deputies" to deploy during emergencies. Many of them were former police officers. 

Blakeman’s campaign web site says that Blakeman said NO to Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary policies, and worked with ICE to take criminals off our streets. As County Executive, Bruce Blakeman hired 600 new Police and Law Enforcement Officers.

In 2024, U S News and World Report ranked Nassau County as the safest county in America.

Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Blakeman held a rally in support of Israel where 6,000 people attended.  Aid for Israeli Defense Force soldiers was collected at the rally

In February 2024, Blakeman issued an executive order banning women's sports teams that include transgender women from using county facilities.  (A state judge struck down the order on the grounds that the county executive lacked the authority to impose the ban but the county legislature passed a similar ban the next month and more lawsuits ensued.)

During COVID, he signed an executive order making masks optional, contravening the state mandate.

Blakeman is pro-choice on abortion, which he believes neutralizes one of the Democratic Party’s potent weapons and allows him to shift the campaign squarely onto Hochul’s record.

A fun but meaningless fact: Blakeman’s former wife is now married to Paul McCartney of The Beatles.