In Albany campaign visit, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman opens up on abortion rights support

ALBANY — Bruce Blakeman came to the State Capitol Thursday to talk taxes, spending, immigration and his campaign for governor.

But he ended up getting personal about his reasons for supporting abortion rights.

"With respect to abortion, I had a conversation with my mother, who, quite frankly, was adopted," Blakeman, the Republican Nassau County executive, said in a Q&A session with reporters.

"And we talked about abortion when I was young," he said. "She said to me, ‘I really think when it comes to abortion, it should be a woman’s choice when it comes to whether she wants to have a child or not.’ So, I understood that a woman should have that right."

He added that he supports abortion rights early in pregnancy but not late-term, and he knows some on the political right "may have a problem with that" but he agrees with them on many more issues.

Blakeman’s abortion rights stance is one reason some Republicans think he has a better chance than previous GOP gubernatorial candidates. He is the presumptive GOP nominee, expected to face Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has made abortion rights a key part of her reelection platform, in November.

Hochul delivered the governor’s annual State of the State address Tuesday, taking aim at two primary targets: affordability and the policies of President Donald Trump.

The governor outlined an agenda for the 2026 session of the State Legislature, focusing on expanding access and aid for child care and prekindergarten, offering incentives to boost housing construction, cracking down on homemade 3D-printed guns, declaring the state should move faster to build nuclear plants and promising to resist aggressive tactics by Trump immigration officers.

She also said New York would move to set its own vaccination standards in light of rollbacks by the Trump administration.

"My message to the wannabe king remains the same: We will not bow," Hochul said.

Blakeman said he agrees with Trump on issues and realizes a lot of New Yorkers don’t. But he said the main point of the campaign should be Hochul’s record of five years in office, crime and the cost of living.

"You’ve been the governor for [five] years," Blakeman said. "You don’t have a record you can run on and all you can do is blame Trump and Republicans in Washington, D.C., for problems that exist in New York State ... that have to deal with state government."

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy