New York Republicans will meet in Garden City on Long Island in February to hold the party’s statewide nominating convention, the state Republican Committee said Tuesday.
Republican county chairs, state committee members, party activists and local supporters will meet at the Garden City Hotel in the Nassau County village Feb. 9-11 to conduct official party business and nominate candidates they hope can break a Democratic stranglehold on state offices.
This election cycle, the race for governor is the big contest in New York that voters will decide, along with the state’s other non-congressional statewide offices — lieutenant governor, attorney general and state comptroller.
The convention will be in home territory for Bruce Blakeman, the perceived frontrunner for the Republican nomination for governor after Rep. Elise Stefanik suspended her brief campaigin in December. Blakeman is currently the Nassau County executive.
At this point, Brooklyn lawyer Khurram Dara is running as a Republican for attorney general. Biotech entrepreneur and Cuban American immigrant Joseph Hernandez is running for state comptroller.
For the first time ever, in 2026, candidates for governor will form a joint ticket with their lieutenant governor pick ahead of any primary. Before a state law in 2025 changed this, the state held separate primaries for governor and lieutenant governor.