Blakeman is pitching himself as a political refuge from Zohran Mamdani’s left-wing surge.
Republican gubernatorial contender Bruce Blakeman blasted Tuesday’s primary results after candidates backed by socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani scored a striking run of victories, framing the outcome as further evidence of what he called Gov. Kathy Hochul’s failed leadership.
“The Hochul-Mamdani lunatic wing of the Democrat Party has made it less affordable and less safe to live in New York,” Blakeman said in a statement released late Tuesday.
Mamdani-aligned progressive candidates for Congress and the state Legislature — among them outspoken contender Darializa Avila Chevalier — prevailed over more moderate Democratic rivals in their primary races.
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The victories underscored Mamdani’s growing pull within the broader Democratic Party and intensified concerns among establishment figures that his Democratic Socialists of America-aligned faction is expanding its influence.
Blakeman, who serves as Nassau County’s executive, extended an olive branch to disaffected moderates.
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“I’m asking common sense Democrats to join our cause to save New York from the socialist, anti-American Communists and restore normalcy to our state,” he said.
