Incumbent Bruce Blakeman declares victory over Democrat Seth Koslow in county executive race in Nassau
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman celebrates a victory at the Nassau Republican GOP headquarters on election night at the Coral House in Baldwin. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Republican Bruce Blakeman declared victory in the race for Nassau County executive Tuesday night, after taking a lead in early returns over Democrat Seth Koslow.
"I want to thank the men and women of Nassau County for giving us all your trust to lead us going forward. If it was not for the people of Nassau County coming out the way they did we wouldn't have had the tremendous result we saw tonight," Blakeman told a crowd of supporters gathered at the Coral House in Baldwin just after 11 p.m.
Hundreds of thousands of voters turned out on Election Day and over the preceding nine days of early voting, in a race that keeps the GOP in control of one of the highest-priced and diverse suburbs in the nation.
The candidates spent months pumping out campaign messaging that focused on property taxes, public safety and immigration. County spending on litigation, large infrastructure projects and leadership of its safety-net hospital also were issues.
"Four years ago, we made promises. We said we wouldn’t be a sanctuary county. We said we would take the masks off the kids. ... We said we wouldn’t raise taxes. We haven’t raised taxes one penny in four years," Blakeman said Tuesday night.
The race for county executive in Nassau was at the top of this year's ballot, which included other countywide contests for district attorney, comptroller and clerk. Voters also had the opportunity to select 19 county legislators in Nassau and dozens of officials in towns, cities and villages.
Blakeman's win breaks a long-standing streak in Nassau, where voters have elected a county executive from the opposing political party of the current U.S. president.
State and Nassau County Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs told those gathered at the Garden City Hotel he was "very disappointed" about the tentative vote tally.
Jacobs did not concede any race on behalf of Democratic candidates, but told audience members, "The numbers right now, unless there is some significant change, do not look as good as I would have liked them to look."
On Tuesday, Democrats won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia with an anti-Trump message. Neighboring New York City went further left on the political spectrum in electing Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblyman, to be the next mayor.
Blakeman, rather, touted his allegiance to President Donald Trump.
"Despite what happened in Virginia and New Jersey, Long Island bucked the trend," said Joseph Cairo, chairman of the Nassau GOP.
Contentious race
Blakeman, 70, of Atlantic Beach, was seeking his second term in office after four years of on-time budgets that kept the property tax levy flat but dipped into reserve funds. In his reelection campaign, he promised to keep taxes low and boost security to thwart against a perceived threat from New York City if Mamdani won.
Koslow, 43, of Merrick, is a county legislator who has questioned the Blakeman administration on its right-leaning policies and spending on private law firms. He also has called for an investigation of the Blakeman-appointed former executive leadership of Nassau University Medical Center, the county's cash-strapped hospital for the poor and uninsured and proposed a reimbursement program for drivers who paid red-light camera fees.
He fought back against Blakeman's political attack ads tying him to Mamdani — whom Koslow had denounced.
Blakeman in 2021 defeated Democrat Laura Curran by 2,150 votes during a red wave that swept all countywide offices and flipped seats in former Democratic strongholds like the Town of North Hempstead and City of Long Beach.
High-profile events
During Blakeman's four years in office, the county hosted high-profile events, including a campaign rally for Trump, the cricket World Cup and golf's Ryder Cup, while achieving U.S. News & World Report's ranking as safest county. Two major development projects on his watch — a $6 billion casino resort at the Nassau Coliseum site and a $3 billion NYU Langone medical center at Nassau Community College — failed.
He also inserted himself into national and state politics by aligning himself with Trump and taking on culture war issues by coming out against mask-wearing, the COVID-19 vaccine and transgender athletes in women's sports. He also oversaw a partnership between the county police and federal agents to deport undocumented immigrants.
He is a perennial figure in Nassau politics who has floated the idea of running for governor next year. Before serving his first term as county executive, he served as a Hempstead councilman and was the first presiding officer of the county legislature.
He is a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and has run for several elected posts through the years including state comptroller, New York City mayor and U.S. Congress.
Koslow, a defense attorney, is a former Queens prosecutor who was elected to the Nassau County Legislature in 2023.
Newsday's Bahar Ostadan, Nicholas Grasso and Sam Kmack contributed to this story.
Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.
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