No, Republicans Win in Nassau County All the Time — It's Actually a GOP Stronghold

The claim is that Republicans cannot win elections in Nassau County, New York. This is false — and not even close to true. Nassau County is widely regarded as one of the last major suburban Republican strongholds in the entire Northeast.

According to the Nassau County Board of Elections, Republicans regularly win the county executive seat, county legislature races, and local offices. Politico New York describes the GOP as having controlled the Nassau County Legislature for most of its modern history — a remarkable feat in a state as blue as New York.

The most recent county executive race makes the point plainly. Republican Bruce Blakeman defeated Democrat Laura Curran in 2021, according to Ballotpedia. That same year, Newsday reported that Republicans swept multiple races across the county, reinforcing its reputation as a GOP stronghold. The New York Times election results show a consistent pattern of Republican wins at the county and local level over many cycles.

To be fair, Nassau County is not immune to Democratic wins — Laura Curran herself held the county executive seat before losing it in 2021, showing the county can swing. But occasional Democratic victories do not change the overall picture: this is a county where Republicans compete and win routinely.

This myth likely spreads because New York as a whole is a deeply Democratic state, and people assume that uniformity extends to every county. It does not. Suburban counties like Nassau have their own distinct political histories, and painting the whole state with one brush leads to exactly this kind of error. When you hear sweeping claims about what is impossible in a particular place, it is worth checking the actual election records before accepting them.