Donald Trump Is Gaining More Blue Voters As Election Draws Closer

Two long-held blue-leaning New York City suburbs are shaping up to be a major asset for former President Donald Trump — in Republicans’ estimation, at least.

Nassau and Suffolk counties, in Long Island, both trend Democratic. But in this past November’s midterm election, the tide turned sharply for these regions despite a Democratic edge on voter registration throughout. Others view this through the prism of a larger political movement in suburban communities nationwide.

Trump carried Suffolk County by less than 250 votes against Joe Biden last year. In 2022, the red wave washed over both Suffolk and neighboring Nassau County (on the north shore of Long Island, opposite New York City), in local as well as congressional elections.

“I think the real catalyst was the crazy way that the Democrats were managing both Washington and Albany,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, told Fox News Digital. “Now, when you talk about cashless bail, when you look at our insecure borders . . . we’re spending billions of dollars on people who have been here for 15 minutes rather than hospitals, infrastructure, schools. People are fed up.”

“I think the Democrats are the ones that are helping us the most, and I think moderate Democrats and independent voters want to vote Republican now because they’re fed up with the policies of Biden-Harris,” he said.

Democratic ex-Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, among those who said far-left policies had attacked viable moderate candidates, also called the state’s bail law unpopular. In 2021, Curran, who was supportive of law enforcement and against the reforms in bail, lost her re-election to Blakeman. 

“Talking about who is the standard-bearer of your party is really, really important,” she said. “That’s why its good Biden is gone, and Kamala Harris is in.”

Kathy Hochul, on the other hand, still has some pretty weak voter favorability numbers as governor of New York. According to a recent Siena College poll, her approval numbers were even lower than Trump’s.

At a rally in Uniondale, Trump had said former U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin, of Suffolk County who lost to Hochul last year in their 2022 gubernatorial battle by a razor-thin margin — might be part of a future Trump administration. The crowd roared in approval.

The most important issues for voters: crime, and moreover migration. The Trump administration earlier teamed up with the local law enforcement in battling MS-13 gang violence on Long Island, a gesture which did not go unnoticed by Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association (PBA).

“That was a gang that had a death grip on Long Island,” said Lou Civello, the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association (PBA) president. “They were targeting young individuals to either join the gang or die. That’s what we were dealing with.”

Earlier this year, Trump announced that Suffolk PBA was endorsing his re-election campaign, marking the organization as the first of its kind in New York to do so.

Changing attitudes in the suburbs reflect other realities in America, including developments at the southern U.S. border. Following Mr. Biden’s move to end the “Remain in Mexico” policy of the former president, some so-called sanctuary cities, such as New York City, have experienced a rise in numbers of migrants rattling nervous residents; many Republicans connect this surge with heightened rates of crime. There were also reports of a Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, blamed for a city-wide crime wave leading to fresh fears.

“Every city is a border town now,” Civello quipped, alluding to the issue of migration which has been felt in every corner of the country.

Trump promised action on migrant crime and attacked progressive policies such as cashless bail during the rally. “Those were good, good towns during which you grew up, and you loved, and also you stayed,” he informed a cheering audience of Levittown, Hicksville and Uniondale.

Even with that wave of support, Trump is a longshot in New York. In the suburbs he leads Harris 50-48 in a recent poll but that change is dwarfed by his face planting in New York City where he loses to the Vice President 72-25. But if Trump is making gains in key swing states that look similar to what he’s seeing on Long Island, it could have notable implications for his re-election campaign.

Melissa DeRosa, a former top aide to Mr. Cuomo, who comes from Long Island, said: “Long Island is a tremendous barometer for the suburbs in America.I think we know what our voters on Long Island are going to expect from these statewide officials.” Suburbs, by and large, are normally purple. They can swing in both directions… I think it is a huge wake-up call.

DeRosa went on to note that as much as the 2020 Biden campaign worked (or effectively didn’t) on “not Trump,” that status might not be enough this time. “2024, when… poll after poll after poll, you feel that the economy is bad… and inflation is at where it’s at, and geopolitically things are such a mess — not being Trump isn’t enough any more,” he said.

DeRosa, however, is skeptical Trump will carry New York. But in places like Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia suburbs are showing signs of moving right as well.

David Gelman, a Trump campaign Pennsylvania legal surrogate said there is increasingly more evidence that supports the president in his state. “Let me tell you, Trump flags everywhere, and it is not black,” he informed Fox News Digital. “PA, they are working so hard in Pennsylvania because if you win Pennsylvania, there is a good chance we have the presidency.

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