Departing the White House for Las Vegas, Trump doubles down on Blakeman

Daily Point

Blakeman gets more praise from Trump

Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign relishes reminding voters of the link between President Donald Trump and her Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

Thursday, though, Hochul's team didn't need to do a thing to make the joined-at-the-hip connection between Trump and Blakeman.

Two days after posting a social media ode of sorts to Blakeman, Trump hyped up his friend again, this time on the White House lawn as he prepared to leave for Las Vegas.

Asked by an unidentified reporter about Blakeman being denied matching funds for his campaign by "partisan Democrats," Trump took a moment to praise Blakeman "as a great, great gentleman" and question the integrity of New York elections.

"I don't know if he wins or not because it's New York and you know people cheat on elections and a lot of other things ... If Bruce Blakeman gets in, your taxes are going to go way down and a lot of good things are going to happen, including cleanliness and all of the things you want to see. I know him very well. He's been a great leader ... Everybody loves him. He's a very talented guy, very great politician, and I think he probably has a chance."

Not to miss a beat, Hochul's campaign sent out a news release with whiplash-inducing speed less than two hours later.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Dr. Holy Trump

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Final Point

Cash flowing for LI's incumbent House members

If money is the sole indicator, Long Island's four congressional incumbents have nothing to worry about in November.

They have a combined $14 million cash on hand. Their challengers? Ten candidates who filed combine for about $1.14 million cash on hand.

Republicans Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota as well as Democrats Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi each far surpassed any and all challengers, according to April 15 campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Suozzi is tops with $863,553.33 raised in the reporting cycle from Jan. 1 through March 31. He has $5,070,838.64 cash on hand, ranking him among the top House members nationwide. Gillen raised $1,325,885.19 during the same period and has $3,240,631.73 cash on hand.

LaLota raised $743,290.95 and has $3,003,805.64 cash on hand. Garbarino raised $581,363.64 and has $2,706,411.68 cash on hand.

Suozzi's two Republican challengers in CD3 — Mike LiPetri and Greg Hach — who will face each other in the June 23 primary, have each raised a decent amount of money. LiPetri's filings show he raised about $691,000 and has $587,000 cash on hand while Hach raised $165,000 and has $267,000 in his campaign account. LiPetri, a former assemblyman, was endorsed earlier this year by the National Republican Congressional Committee's MAGA Majority.

Danielle Welch, running a primary campaign against Suozzi, hasn't filed with the FEC yet.

LaLota challenger in CD1 Christopher Gallant raised $117,000 and has $72,000 cash on hand. Gallant, a former military helicopter pilot, is being primaried by Jonathan Jacobs, a Bridgehampton doctor, and Lukas Ventouras, a St. John's University School of Law student from Northport. Jacobs raised $79,000 and has $39,000 cash on hand while Ventouras raised $7,300 and has $23,800 cash on hand.

In CD2, former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin raised $92,000 and has $75,000 cash on hand. The Democratic challenger is being primaried by Jessica Murphy, who raised $72,000 and has $57,000 cash on hand, and Garrett Petersen, who raised $4,800 and has $5,300 cash on hand.

In CD4, things are a bit murkier among Gillen's challengers for the party's nomination. Gian Jones, who was backed by a local grassroots organization early, didn't qualify to get on the ballot. Former Assemb. Taylor Darling, who announced a primary run against Gillen in February, hasn't filed with the FEC yet. That leaves Kiana Bierria-Anderson challenging Gillen. Bierria-Anderson reported raising $30,000 and has $8,600 cash on hand.

On the GOP side in CD4, where Republicans this week announced their backing of Hempstead Town Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll in a last-minute switch, there's just Marvin Suber Williams in the race. He raised $88,000 and has $4,500 cash on hand. Driscoll hasn't filed with the FEC yet. A few other candidates either didn't file FEC reports or didn't qualify to be on the June 23 primary ballot.

Keep in mind, these figures don't account for super PAC spending. America's donor class is getting ready to go even deeper into their wallets to make an impact in the '26 midterm elections. How much of an impact that so-called dark money makes on Long Island remains to be seen.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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