Long Island turns purple: Hochul nips Blakeman in Suffolk, Nassau; LaLota, Garbarino hold narrow leads

In 2022, Republican Lee Zeldin, now serving as President Trump’s EPA administrator, crushed Hochul on Long Island 57% to 43%. In 2024, Trump carried Suffolk by 11 points and became the first Republican presidential nominee in 36 years to win Nassau.

Republicans are holding on in several key races. Both GOP congressmen, Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino, remain slightly ahead and seemingly on their way to re-election, and Republican state senators and Assembly members won across much of Nassau and Suffolk.

But Democrats gained ground almost everywhere. They won Hempstead Town Hall for only the second time in a century and led in an East End state Senate seat Republicans have held for many generations.

The local results came as a national blue wave gave Democrats control of both the House and the Senate.

Statewide, the governor’s race was not close. The Associated Press called it for Hochul as polls closed at 9 p.m. She led Blakeman 3,550,354 to 2,345,191, or 60.1% to 39.7%. That is more than three times her 6-point margin over Zeldin four years ago.

The two candidates spent the campaign trying to tie each other to unpopular national figures. Hochul linked Blakeman to Trump, who endorsed him. Blakeman went after Hochul’s alliance with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Blakeman ran on cutting taxes and utility bills, fighting crime and cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Hochul ran on affordability measures, including rebate checks and universal school meals.

Blakeman conceded Tuesday night, saying he had called Hochul and that now that the race is over, New Yorkers need to work together. Hochul said she would continue to work with Blakeman on behalf of Nassau County.

In her victory speech in Manhattan, Hochul gave the night a national framing: “This is how we take back our country.”

In 2024, LaLota beat John Avlon by more than 10 points — 55.2% to 44.8%.

LaLota declared victory late Tuesday, just before the AP called the race. Gallant has not conceded, saying he is waiting on the absentee count. “Every single one of them deserves to be counted,” he said in a statement.

Garbarino’s lead appears to come from the small Nassau piece of the district: East Massapequa, Massapequa, Massapequa Park and North Massapequa. Garbarino is at 67% and Halpin is at 33% there.

By a GLI calculation from those figures, Garbarino came out of the Massapequas roughly 10,700 votes ahead. Halpin led the much larger Suffolk portion of the district by about 4,500 votes.

The Massapequas also held steady for Republicans. NBC’s data showed the Nassau portion voting essentially the same as it did for Trump in 2024, while the Suffolk portion moved toward the Democrats.

Though many outlets have called the election and declared Garbarino the winner, the race is not quite over. About 90 percent of the vote is in. But catch up, Halpin would need close to 55 percent of what remains.

“We’ll see,” Halpin told News 12 Long Island. Suffolk Democratic Chair Rich Schaffer said both congressional races in Suffolk were too close to call.

In Nassau’s two Democratic-held districts, Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen won reelection.

The result reverses last year’s race, when Ferretti beat Scianablo with 53.25% of the vote. Hempstead has had a Republican supervisor for all but two of the past 100 years. Those two years were 2018 and 2019, under Laura Gillen.

Democrats also won the town clerk’s office. Democrat Joylette Williams beat Republican incumbent Kate Murray, herself a former town supervisor.

Ferretti conceded early Wednesday, Newsday reported.

“This was the voters deciding that enough is enough,” Scianablo said in declaring victory.

Murray would be the first Democrat to hold the seat since 1914. Palumbo, a former Suffolk assistant district attorney, ran on his legislative record and on working with local Democrats on regional issues.

Murray, who has never held office, is a former chairman of the Suffolk County Community College board of trustees.

The East End’s Assembly incumbents both won. Democrat Tommy John Schiavoni won a second term in the 1st Assembly District, beating Republican Stephen Kiely in a rematch. In the 2nd District, Republican Jodi Giglio beat Democrat Michael Szika 58.5% to 40.2%.

Also victorious in Assembly races: Republicans Michael Durso, Steve Brown and Ed Ra, the Assembly minority leader.

Democrats had their own wins.

In the 9th Senate District, Democrat Lisa Vider led Republican Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick by about 2.5 points with 95% reporting. Democratic Sen. Siela Bynoe was projected to keep her 6th District seat.

Democrats Steve Stern, Charles Lavine, Judy Griffin and Michaelle Solages earned wins in Assembly races, while Democrat Noah Burroughs was on track to win the 18th District.

Statewide, Democrats were poised to win back a veto-proof supermajority in the state Senate, which they lost in 2024, Newsday noted.

In Riverhead, Democratic Supervisor Jerry Halpin won a full term over Republican Councilman Ken Rothwell by 627 votes.

After the results came in, Trump posted on Truth Social that he wasn’t on the ballot, and if he had been, Republicans would have won in a landslide. At about 11:40 p.m., he posted a photo of a red baseball cap stitched with the word “VETO.”

In a Fox News interview on election night, Trump said he would veto what he called “insane” Democratic bills. He also said he was confident he could work with Democrats.

Trump told The New York Times late Tuesday that he would accept the results, the newspaper reported.

Midterms are usually rough for the party that holds the White House. Democrats lost the House in 2010 under President Barack Obama and again in 2022 under President Joe Biden. Republicans lost it in 2018, during Trump’s first term.

Though this year went well beyond the usual midterm setback. According to AP tallies, Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. They led 228 to 139 in the House with 68 races uncalled (218 clinches a majority), and were set for a 54-44 Senate majority with two races left to be decided.

All results from Tuesday are unofficial until absentee and affidavit ballots are counted and the boards of elections certify them.

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_{Top: Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaks at an election night event, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in New York (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II).}