New York’s Republican Party suffered a rout on Tuesday that an NY Post editorial says should force the party to turn power over to its younger leaders, starting with Rep. Elise Stefanik.
The losses were steep. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the GOP’s nominee for governor, lost even his home county. Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler was wiped out by the national and state Democratic machines, according to the editorial. Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Nick LaLota barely held districts that should be solidly Republican, and Anthony Constantino narrowly survived in a seat Stefanik had built into a GOP stronghold. The party’s Assembly contingent shrank from 48 seats to 39 as traditional Republican suburban strongholds collapsed.
That marks a complete reversal from the 2022 midterms, when Rep. Lee Zeldin nearly unseated Gov. Kathy Hochul and young New York Republicans posted record gains at every level.
The editorial argues the fix isn’t simply swapping out party chairman Ed Cox for someone loyal to a different county machine. Instead, it says future leadership should come from the ranks of the 2022 winners, with older figures — including President Donald Trump, Blakeman and Cox himself — offering advice from the sidelines rather than calling the shots.
Stefanik’s approach is held up as the model: listen to voters’ actual concerns and rebuild from the ground up.
An entire rebuild of the apparatus of institutions, media, organizations and technological tools built to win.
That rebuild, the editorial says, requires a “broad coalition” and a New York GOP brand “compelling to voters whose trust Republicans lost this cycle across the nation.” Money will be needed too, but the editorial warns against depending on vested interests — GOP-leaning unions or particular business interests — insisting instead that fundraising stay tied to principles.
The argument is that the work ahead will be thankless, but the party needs to get its act together now so it’s ready when voters eventually turn against Albany’s spending and one-party rule — whether that’s in 2028 or later. The editorial calls on Stefanik, Lawler and other younger Republicans to work together while older hands step back and let them build.
