Blakeman continues campaign for U.S. Senate

Bruce Blakeman has been campaigning for the U.S. Senate for several months now, and his journey has taken him to all corners of New York state.

The Valley Stream native, Central High School graduate and current resident of New York City announced his candidacy in his hometown back in January.

Blakeman, a former presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, said he has visited the major cities in New York multiple times, as well as the small towns in between. He described the experience as bittersweet: He enjoys the interaction with New Yorkers but has learned that they are displeased with their government. “They are very concerned that we are mortgaging the future of our country,” he said, citing a national debt approaching $14 trillion, much of it owed to foreign governments.

At the recent New York Republican Convention, Blakeman became the party’s designee to run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. He received 51 percent of the vote, and will likely face a primary challenge from economist David Malpass in September.

Blakeman said that citizens are unhappy as well with the federal government’s health care reform, and that he would look to repeal it if elected to the Senate. Most New Yorkers, he explained, are happy with their current health care and do not want a system like Europe’s.

He also said that the federal government needs to cut spending; otherwise future generations will be heavily indebted. “We need to learn to live within the revenue we take in,” Blakeman said.

Visiting all of the places he has in New York, he said, he learned that the issues are the same everywhere. People want jobs and economic development and feel that health care reform was a waste of the government’s time and effort. The unemployment rate is the same in the Bronx, Blakeman noted, as it is near Buffalo. “It’s the same general theme,” he said, “whether I’m on Long Island or I’m up in the Thousand Islands.”

Blakeman, who took a 12-year break from politics to raise a son, said he has that fire in his belly again to serve the people. He explained that he is just as angry, frustrated and worried as his fellow New Yorkers. “I have a real passion now to run,” he said. “I’m going to be the kind of fighter people want in Washington.”

He is planning more trips throughout New York in the coming months, including to numerous county and state fairs. In the past two months, Blakeman said, he has logged 10,000 miles in his car and has spent about one out of every three days on a plane. He spent Monday handing out flags to passengers at Grand Central Terminal in celebration of Flag Day.

Based on his performance at the Republican convention, Blakeman said, he is confident he will secure a primary victory over Malpass and face off against Gillibrand in November. The winner will serve for two years — the remainder of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s term.

If he does challenge Gillibrand, Blakeman said he is confident he will win because he believes that New Yorkers are looking for a change. “People haven’t lost faith in America,” he said. “They’ve lost faith in their leaders. I want to restore that faith.”

Blakeman, who has many fond memories of growing up in Valley Stream, said what stands out most for him about his hometown is his campaign kickoff. On a rainy Sunday in January, Blakeman announced to more than 600 people at the American Legion hall on Roosevelt Avenue that he was running for the Senate. “It was a great launching pad for my candidacy,” he said. “Valley Stream was very good to me.”