Blakeman Bags GOP Primary Win in NY

Bruce Blakeman won the Republican primary in the race to represent New York's 4th Congressional District on Tuesday night after receiving the full backing of the GOPy entering his showdown with Frank Scaturro.

With more than 80 percent of the votes in, Blakeman had garnered almost 66 percent and was declared the winner by the Associated Press. Scaturro trailed with just over 34 percent in the two-man race.

Blakeman, 58, sports a long resume, which includes stints as the presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature and as a member of the Hempstead Town Board. He was also a commissioner for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 2001 to 2009, and unsuccessfully ran for state comptroller in 1998 and the U.S. Senate in 2010.

Blakeman is contending for the seat left open by retiring Democrat Carolyn McCarthy. His challenger from the left will be Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who won the Democratic primary Tuesday.

For Scaturro, 41, Tuesday's defeat is the third in the last three elections after he lost in the 2010 and 2012 GOP primaries to represent the district that comprises central and southern Nassau County, situated at the base of Long Island.

According to a Newsday story last week, Blakeman — who ran two television ads to Scaturro's none — had raised more than $400,000 since the start of his campaign. Scaturro had less than half of that.