Long Island’s Bruce Blackman is running for governor and will challenge Elise Stefanik in the Republican primary

Bruce Blackman, a Republican county official in suburban New York City, announced on Tuesday that he is running for governor, setting up a primary conflict with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Trump ally.

Blakeman, who has portrayed himself as a bulwark against the liberal policies of urban Democrats, criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul as a “failure” in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”

“I’m running for office to make people more prosperous, to make people safer, to make New Yorkers happy again,” said Nassau County Executive Blackman.

Blackman’s nomination begins what is expected to be a heated Republican contest against Stefanik, a conservative from upstate New York who was chosen by President Donald Trump to be his ambassador to the United Nations, but withdrew the nomination over concerns that the GOP’s slim majority could not afford to lose any more House seats.

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

Stefanik’s campaign attacked Blackman as a weak candidate with a record of “supporting corrupt far-left Democrats.” His statement called it “an early Christmas present for Kathy Hochul and is working to undermine Republicans’ best chance of winning.”

Democrats have a strong advantage in voter registration in New York, but next year’s governor’s race is expected to be one of the most watched contests in the country. Hochul, a moderate Democrat, faces a primary challenge from Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado.

Registered Democrats also outnumber Republicans in Nassau County, where 1.4 million people live east of New York City. But county voters narrowly favored Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris in the last presidential election.

As county executive, Blakeman pushed a policy banning transgender athletes from using county sports facilities, created a volunteer law enforcement unit that his critics described as a militia and directed county investigators to work alongside federal authorities in Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown.

He is Nassau County’s first Jewish executive, and 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 suppressing pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Blakeman achieved victory in his election to a second term in November. Previously, he served on the Hempstead City Council and held an appointed position as Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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

Both Blakeman and Stefanik now portray themselves as candidates able to appeal to moderate Democrats as well as Republicans, though both have embraced the reckless political rhetoric of Trump, who remains unpopular in New York.

They also drew contrasts between themselves and Zahran Mamdani, while at the same time adopting some of the New York City mayor-elect’s messaging on affordability as a campaign issue.

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