Long Island Republican Bruce Blakeman is running for New York governor

In an appearance Tuesday on the Fox News “Fox and Friends” show, Blakeman said Hochul is a “failure” who needs to be replaced. “I’m running for office to make people more prosperous, to make them safer and to make New Yorkers happy again.”

Blakeman’s candidacy kicks off what is expected to be a heated Republican contest against Stefanik, a conservative from northern New York who Trump nominated for U.N. ambassador, only to withdraw it over concerns that the slim GOP majority couldn't afford to lose any more House seats.

Trump has — so far — avoided taking sides, telling reporters this week “He’s great, and she’s great. They’re both great people."

Democrats enjoy a strong voter registration advantage in New York, but next year’s race for governor is expected to be one of the nation’s most watched contests. Hochul, a moderate Democrat, is facing a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.

Blakeman, from his post as the leader of a suburban county just east of New York City, has cast himself as a bulwark against liberal, urban leadership in a part of Long Island that leans conservative and embraced Trump in recent elections.

He has pushed through a policy that bans transgender athletes from using county sports facilities, created a volunteer law enforcement unit that his critics have labeled as a militia and directed county detectives to work alongside federal authorities in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Nassau’s first Jewish county executive, he also signed a local ban on wearing face masks in public except for health or religious reasons, a measure that critics complain is aimed at cracking down on pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Blakeman cruised to victory in his election to a second term in November. And previously, he served in the Hempstead Town Council and held an appointed post as the commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

But bigger elective offices have eluded him. Hochul's campaign issued a statement saying Blakeman “has lost just about every race he’s touched — county legislator, comptroller, Congress, even U.S. Senate. There’s a reason: just like Donald Trump, he takes money out of New Yorkers’ pockets and squeezes working families at every turn.”

Both Blakeman and Stefanik now frame themselves as candidates who could appeal to moderate Democrats as well as Republicans, even though both have adopted the brash political rhetoric of Trump, who remains unpopular in New York.

Former Gov. George Pataki was the state’s last Republican governor, leaving office about two decades ago.