The Blakeman factor in NY House races

Daily Point

Not Bruce's state party quite yet

If Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman beats the odds and unseats Gov. Kathy Hochul, he'd simultaneously become the titular head of the state Republican Party. For the moment, however, Blakeman is sharing the GOP ticket with a number of congressional candidates around the state with whom he seems to have had no message coordination and little collaboration.

When Blakeman was first wading into the contest to lead the Empire State, local GOP fans spoke hopefully of his ability to pull up by his coattails Republicans running for House seats in the downstate region — the contests with meaningful national drama.

With seven weeks left to the campaign, having a Nassau Republican at the top of the ticket could help Jeanine Driscoll, the nominee this year against Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen who seeks a second term. In the Hudson Valley's CD17, one veteran operative on the GOP side sees Republican Rep. Mike Lawler potentially drawing strength from a Blakeman-led ticket as he seeks to retain his purple district. What would really help Lawler, though, is a suburban backlash against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who's in the same media market, the source said.

Meanwhile, Mike LiPetri, the Republican running for a second time to unseat Rep. Tom Suozzi, told Newsday's editorial board on Tuesday that he sees Blakeman as an asset in his run for CD3. The former Assembly member particularly praised Blakeman's performance in the county on taxes and public safety as a plus for GOP turnout.

In off-Island districts, Blakeman already has fiascoes and clumsiness. In Brooklyn, the Republican-Conservative candidate for CD9, Joel Anabilah-Azumah, is on the ballot against Rep. Yvette Clarke. "He is going to make a great member of Congress," Blakeman said of Anabilah-Azumah, in an endorsement video Hochul's opponent chose not to circulate. "We need fighters like that in Congress. ... Joel, you have my full endorsement."

Unfortunately for Blakeman, Anabilah-Azumah has gone around insisting the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an "inside job" which forced an about-face from the gubernatorial candidate. Last week Blakeman told Newsday's news division: "I didn't know this guy. I was asked by the county chairman in Kings County to endorse him, and obviously, if I knew the things that he said, I wouldn't have endorsed him."

There are always pitfalls campaigning in districts where you don't know the players. Blakeman also filmed a campaign video with Marcus C. Williams, a 2024 Republican candidate for the Assembly in Monroe County who shared a video in December claiming that 9/11 "was planned and executed by the Zionists."

Then there's the awkwardness stemming from the House candidacy of State Sen. Peter Oberacker, who last month stood alongside Blakeman in Sullivan County. They were in sync opposing the state's green energy plans, specifically for local solar arrays.

A decade ago, on Facebook, Oberacker honored his grandfather who he said fought for Nazi Germany, Politico first reported.

This week Axios revealed that the House Republican campaign operation is pulling the monetary plug on Oberacker, whose candidacy has proved problematic. The group had $4.8 million in television ad reservations supporting Oberacker pulled last week, the news site said.

In CD21, Anthony Constantino, CEO of the Sticker Mule company, is so accustomed to issuing nasty smears against his mildest critics that he's alienated some in the party who might otherwise be rooting or working for him. Blakeman spoke cautiously while visiting the district and joining the House candidate. "We're a team, and we've got to make sure that we support each other," the Long Islander said. "It's important that we keep this congressional district red." Odds are the district stays red regardless of Blakeman's presence. Trump called on the state GOP for Constantino's nomination earlier this year to succeed the departing Rep. Elise Stefanik. Democrats are nonetheless hopeful that their candidate, the more collegially bipartisan dairy farmer Blake Gendebien, will pull off an upset.

For the GOP, there seems to be a bit of motley disarray for which their Democratic rivals are traditionally famous.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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Final Point

Roger Tilles retires, but the music plays on

Roger Tilles has retired from the state Board of Regents after 21 years — but he's not leaving the public education landscape, Tilles told The Point.

Instead, Tilles will be heading a new commission that will spend the next year determining how to add more music and art to the curriculum, across the age spectrum.

But even with that new gig, the end of Tilles' Regents tenure marks the end of an era. And that will be recognized in an event next month called "A Musical Celebration of Roger Tilles," held — unsurprisingly — at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville. The Tilles family contributed significantly to the construction and renovations of the concert hall, which was renamed in the family's honor in 1987. Since then, Roger Tilles and his family continue to be significant donors to the center.

The performance, Tilles said, will reflect some of his work over the last two decades. Among the performers, for instance, will be the Central Islip High School Concert Choir, a nod to one of his early school visits, Tilles said. He recalled that 20 years ago he visited the Central Islip school district, reading poems to an elementary school class and sitting in on an English class that he found "very depressing" because so few students had interest in the classwork — or in going to college in the future. But as he was leaving, he heard the choir singing in a rehearsal for an upcoming trip to Austria. When he asked, he learned nearly everyone in the choir wanted to go to college — in part because of encouragement from their teacher.

"Since then, I've discovered all kinds of academic tacks regarding the need for arts education," Tilles said. "So, I've been pushing for it, and now the Regents are all pushing for it."

Tilles, who also founded the Long Island Arts Alliance, said despite his plans for continued involvement, he recognized that it was time to move on from the Board of Regents.

"Twenty-one years is enough," Tilles said. "I watched Biden and Trump. I just hit 80. I feel good about what I'm doing and I love what I'm doing but it's time for a younger person to do what I'm doing and maybe they will grow into the role."

Long Island's current Regent, who took on the position last year when Tilles moved to a one-year at-large slot, is Felicia Thomas-Williams, 58, a former Brentwood middle school principal.

Tilles cited his fights to improve education, standards and graduation requirements for students with special needs, and his efforts to expand Holocaust education as markers he leaves behind. He also was a significant supporter of the plan that moved forward this week to end the requirement of passing Regents exams to graduate from high school, a proposal that will go into effect during the 2027-28 school year. Tilles said the new framework, called the "Portrait of a Graduate," is "much more realistic."

And, he said, it dovetails into the new work he'll be doing on promoting and expanding arts education.

But in the meantime, he said, he's looking forward to the Tilles Center program, which he said will support and promote "scholar-artists."

"It should be a very interesting evening," Tilles said. "I told [the organizers] that I really wanted a program of music and not just speeches. So, that's what it will be." 

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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