New York Republicans Trade Insults After Blakeman's Crushing Election Loss

New York's Republican Party fractured publicly on Thursday in the wake of Governor Kathy Hochul's landslide reelection victory, in which she defeated Republican Bruce Blakeman 59.1% to 39.69% — a margin exceeding 1.15 million votes. The feud was set off by a Wednesday New York Post interview in which outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik called Blakeman's campaign "low energy," declared the state party "broken," and said it "needs to be built from scratch." Blakeman responded Thursday on X, calling Stefanik "a selfish, do-nothing politician that didn't lift a finger to help Republican candidates in New York this year." Stefanik fired back by pointing to her undefeated record across seven elections and offering what she called "Upstate grace." Republican Anthony Constantino, who declared victory in the race to succeed Stefanik in Congress, piled on — attacking Blakeman and explicitly calling for the removal of state GOP chair Ed Cox. The defeat was particularly stinging because preliminary election returns showed Hochul leading in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, areas where Republican Lee Zeldin had won decisively in 2022. The infighting traces back to a rivalry between Blakeman and Stefanik during the 2025 gubernatorial primary, which Stefanik abandoned after Trump declined to endorse either candidate.