New York GOP official seizes national spotlight with culture war cred

NEW YORK — An in with Donald Trump. Culture war cred. Media savvy. An elected official representing a New York City suburb has the trappings of GOP stardom in this political landscape.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — once photographed holding an umbrella over Trump at the Long Island wake of a slain NYPD officer — hobnobbed at the Republican National Convention with Trump senior adviser Dan Scavino and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). He also fielded plaudits for his county’s ban on transgender athletes that faces legal challenges from the New York Civil Liberties Union and New York State Attorney General Tish James — a flex in MAGA world.

“We’ve taken some stands in Nassau County that have gotten national attention,” Blakeman said in an interview from convention in Milwaukee. “And I think it’s because people are surprised that in a place like Nassau County, on the border of New York City, people want to get back to American values, conservative values.”

Blakeman has caught the nation’s eye, for good or bad, with the law he signed Monday to ban trans woman athletes from competing at county facilities as well as his recent effort to recruit, train and arm a force that he insists is not a militia.

And in addition to standing with Trump as his community mourned a fallen first responder in March, Blakeman appeared two months later at a Bronx rally where the presidential candidate lauded him for his “central casting” looks .

He also knows his way around a soundbite.

As a result, Blakeman, who flipped his seat as part of a red wave sweeping New York City suburbs in 2022, has enjoyed relatively frequent cable news coverage for a local official.

But his critics have roundly condemned his policies as self-serving, fear-mongering and dangerous.

“He’s grandstanding and trying to be a mini-Trump,” New York State Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs said. “I don’t know if he wants to be in a Trump administration, but he’s certainly not dealing with the issues of Nassau County.”

Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, the Democratic minority leader of the Nassau County Legislature, said she has been pressing for taxpayer cost and other details about the “special deputies” that Blakeman said would be deployed in the event of an emergency.

“The idea of putting more guns on the street with someone who is not trained the way that our police are is really ... ” she began, continuing, “We’re honestly concerned about somebody getting hurt.”

And NYCLU attorneys similarly have unanswered questions.

“What’s the emergency? Where are people being deployed? Who’s being trained? What’s the oversight? What’s the liability to the county if somebody deploys use of force inappropriately?” NYCLU senior staff attorney Beth Haroules asked.

Blakeman, who was a Port Authority commissioner in the wake of 9/11, dismissed the concerns as liberal bellyaching.

“People are getting all excited about a list in a database of people who would be willing to serve and people who are qualified to serve,” he said.

There have been 80 applicants, including former law enforcement, and 25 have been trained, he said. (DeRiggi-Whitton said she has learned that the figure is closer to six.)

Blakeman also believes he has the legal upper hand in the ban that has the support of politically conservative trans celebrity Caitlyn Jenner , and said, “It’s a safety issue for women and girls in sports.”

An earlier iteration, which he issued via executive order in February, was struck down in May by the Nassau County Supreme Court. But the Republican-controlled county legislature passed a new version.

The NYCLU alleges state human rights, civil rights and municipal home rule violations. James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, similarly said the discriminatory and transphobic ban violates state laws.

Blakeman, meanwhile, shrugged off speculation that he has designs on higher office. “I never rule anything out,” he told POLITICO, “but I’m totally focused on being the best county executive I can be.”

Nick Reisman contributed to this report.

A version of this story first appeared Friday in New York Playbook. Subscribe here.