Uniondale, NY – The shift of two major New York City suburbs to the political right could be a boon for the East. President Trump According to insiders from both parties, this incident could happen on the day of the election.
While not traditionally purple, or even blue-leaning, Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties went solidly red in the 2022 midterm elections, even though the state’s voter rolls show Democrats outnumber Republicans in both places.
And it could be a sign of where things are heading in similar communities across the country.
Former President Trump won Suffolk County in 2020, beating Joe Biden by less than 250 votes. But then, in the 2022 midterm elections, both Suffolk and neighboring Nassau County, which borders the Big Apple, saw red waves in local and congressional elections.
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Supporters of Republican presidential candidate former President Trump wait for the start of his campaign rally at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on September 18, 2024 in Uniondale, New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“I think the real catalyst was the Democrats’ crazy way that they were managing this. Both Washington Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, told Fox News Digital, “Now, when you talk about cashless bail, when you look at our unsecure borders … we’re spending billions of dollars on people who are here for 15 minutes instead of hospitals, infrastructure, schools. People are fed up.”
He said Trump’s message resonates more with suburban voters.
“I think the Democrats are helping us the most, and I think moderate Democrats and independent voters are now willing to vote Republican because they’re fed up with Biden-Harris policies,” he said.
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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman speaks before former President Trump at a rally in Uniondale, NY, on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
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Laura Curran, a pro-police Democrat who opposed the state’s controversial bail reform law, said that regardless of her stance, the rhetoric of far-left lawmakers on Capitol Hill hurt her campaign when she lost re-election to Blakeman three years ago.
“Talking about who is the flagbearer for your party is really, really important,” he said. “So it’s good that Biden is gone and Kamala Harris is here.”
Still, he said the state’s unpopular governor, Kathy Hochul, is another weak point, as a new Siena College poll found her favorability is another weak point for the state. Among New York Voter turnout has fallen below Trump.
Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during an announcement of the inclusion of funding for the mental health and public safety budget for fiscal year 2025 at the Midtown Community Justice Center. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Light Rocket via Getty Images)
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At Trump’s rally on Wednesday, the former president said that former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is from Suffolk County and has Removal of Hochul The person who got the most votes in the last gubernatorial race could have a role in the next administration if they win re-election. People in the crowd erupted in cheers.
Hochul won by less than 5% over Zeldin, in a state where there are twice as many registered Democratic voters as registered Republican voters.
Surveys show that crime in general, particularly migrant crime, taxes, and the economy are at the forefront of voters’ minds.
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In Suffolk, the former president’s Justice Department MS-13 played a key role in combating an epidemic of violence, which the police union there has not forgotten.
“This was a gang that had a death grip on Long Island,” said Lou Civello, president of the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association (PBA). “They were targeting young individuals to either join the gang or die. That’s what we were dealing with.”
Members of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association attend a tailgate prior to former President Trump’s rally on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Uniondale, NY. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
And the gang committed many brutal murders with knives as their preferred weapon. In one case, gang members killed a mother and then killed her young child so he wouldn’t grow up and take revenge, Civello said. Then, one of the killers took one of the slain child’s toys and brought it home to play with his girlfriend’s son.
“This was a problem that required more than local policing,” Civello said. “We needed a federal partner, and President Trump made that a priority.”
The Suffolk PBA became the first police organization in New York to endorse Trump’s re-election effort earlier this year.
Supporters of former President Trump prepare and wait outside the Nassau Coliseum for Trump’s rally on September 18, 2024 in Long Island. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
After Trump left office, the Biden-Harris administration disgraced itself by reversing Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, opening a floodgate that some Republican leaders called sanctuary states and cities, sending migrants from the border on buses and airplanes to places like New York, Martha’s Vineyard and Chicago.
As a result the New York City police issued a Migrant crime wave” Earlier this year, Venezuela’s new prison gang, the Tren de Aragua, made headlines for leading a surge in robberies.
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Attendees at former President Trump’s rally in Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
“Every city is a border city now,” Civello told Fox News Digital.
Trump’s message at the rally on Wednesday clearly resonated with voters. He promised to crack down on immigrant crime and criticized progressive cashless bail policies, steps he said would make New Yorkers “love” their home state again.
Levittown, Hicksville and Uniondale were among the country’s original suburbs, he said.
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“These were great, wonderful cities where you grew up, you loved them, and you stayed here,” he said to thunderous applause.
Still, though he has vowed to become the first Republican presidential candidate to win New York in decades, he still faces an uphill battle.
People wait outside the Nassau Coliseum before a rally begins for former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in Uniondale, New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)
A recent Siena College poll shows Trump has slightly more support than Harris in New York’s suburban counties, 50% to 48%, and Trump leads in the upstate region, 50% to 45%. But Harris leads in New York City, 72% to 25%.
A new Fox News poll shows Trump’s suburban advantage in the Empire State is higher than the national average, which is 51% in favor of Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, compared to 47% in favor of Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance.
If Trump’s lead on Long Island is any indication for similar communities in key swing states, it could mean a lot for his reelection campaign.
“I think Long Island is a pretty good barometer for suburban areas in America,” said Melissa DeRosa, a top adviser to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Leadership Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“The suburbs in general are traditionally purple,” she said. “They can go either way, and I think women in particular in the suburbs have a lot of voting power in the electorate. When I look at Long Island, and you see this encroachment over the last couple of years where it’s gone completely red, even under a good scenario in terms of the lines that are being drawn for us, I think it’s really a warning.”
He said Trump continues to tailor messages to different communities that are tailored to their needs.No tax on tips“Nevada reached an agreement on tariffs on foreign cars and the United Auto Workers union.
“People respond to leadership,” he said. “They respond to a lack of leadership. And I think the problem is that, in 2020, not having Trump was enough. In 2024, not having Trump is not enough, when, in poll after poll, people feel worse economically … when the direction of the country is so negative, when inflation is at its peak, when geopolitically, things are so messed up.”
Still, he said he doesn’t expect Trump to be able to win the deep blue state.
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but in a key swing state Pennsylvania, suburbs Even outside Philadelphia, there are signs that voters are moving to the right, according to David Gelman, a legal representative for the Trump campaign whose family owns a restaurant there.
“I can tell you that you’re seeing Trump flags everywhere, and that’s not right at all,” he told Fox News Digital. “They’re putting a lot of effort into Pennsylvania, because if you win Pennsylvania, there’s a good chance you’re winning the presidency.”
