Long before Bruce Blakeman turned New York’s gubernatorial candidate for change, he was a lowly school child tasked with driving Nancy Reagan around.

The Nassau County government’s first actual political gig — as a volunteer for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential marketing campaign—  unexpectedly landed him in proximity to the fiercely protecting soon-to-be first woman.

“She liked and trusted me,” Blakeman informed The Post in a latest interview. “She was worried about her husband’s safety. She was very, very protective of her Ronnie.”

Bruce Blakeman was destined for the political highlight at a younger age. Robert Miller for NY Post

The unglamorous job of carting “Fancy Nancy” to fundraisers impressed upon him the worth loyalty, discretion and political entry — though the story reveals Blakeman has lengthy been destined for the political highlight.

“I got involved in politics at age 7. On Halloween, I went door-to-door with two bags — one to collect candy and another to give out literature for my dad’s campaign,” he said.

“People loved it,” he said, “when homeowners saw a boy volunteering for his dad’s campaign instead of just getting treats.”

The longtime public servant is now looking for the highest workplace in the state, vying to become New York’s first Republican governor in more than 20 years on November 3.

Blakeman, 71, is broadly thought of the underdog in attempting to topple incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul — but he’s always been a danger taker.

Three years after he was elected to the Hempstead Town Board in 1993, the Long Island native took a probability — operating in a blue district for the newly created Nassau County Legislature.

He won — and even turned the physique’s first presiding officer.

The GOP Gubernatorial candidate campaigned door-to-door as a child while trick-or-treating in his hometown of Valley Stream. Bolivar Arellano/NY Post

“I took a risk,” he recalled. “I was up for re-election [for the Hempstead Board]. Instead, I ran for the Nassau County Legislature in a district drawn for a Democrat and I won.”

It was an early instance of Blakeman silencing the doubters.

Former US Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a powerhouse in Nassau County GOP politics who’s identified Blakeman for 40 years, described him as pushed and fearless.

“Bruce was always a hard worker. He never stopped working,” D’Amato said.

“He’s never afraid to take on a project. If you needed him to do something, he did it.”

Blakeman later served as a driver for Nancy Reagan during Ronald Reagan’s profitable 1980 marketing campaign for president. Getty Images

As the son of Robert Blakeman, who served as a Republican state assemblyman in the Nineteen Sixties, campaigning was in his blood. 

“My father was ‘Mr. Valley Stream,’” Bruce Blakeman said about his dad, an influential legal professional and World War II veteran who he described as an inspiration and a pillar of the group. He died in 2018 at 92.

The elder Blakeman loved drafting and debating payments but didn’t like the marketing campaign rituals of glad handing and avenue campaigning — unlike his son, who revels in pounding the pavement and urgent the flesh.

Blakeman credit his outgoing nature to his mom, Betty, who served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

“My mom was a big personality. Anyone who met my mother remembered her for her strong personality and beauty,” he said. “Her love and compassion continue to guide me in everything I do.”

One of 5 siblings, Blakeman’s mother and father instilled in him a robust work ethic and he had jobs during summers as a busboy, janitor, dishwasher and bartender.

As a 12 yr outdated boy, he cherished taking the Long Island Rail Road into Manhattan on his own or with his buddies.

“We’d roam around the city all day. I was always fascinated by the city,” Blakeman said.

The 6’1″ Blakeman excelled at basketball at Valley Stream High School, where he was a capturing guard and small ahead, boasting, “I could play above the rim. I could dunk easily.”

His basketball profession ended when he broke his ankle during the first day of apply his senior yr and he later went off to school, first to Arizona State University — where he met first spouse Nancy Shevell — and then to California Western Law School in San Diego.

“It was exciting to be in different places,” Blakeman said. “But I always gravitated back to New York.”

In his 20s, the younger Republican turned concerned in presidential politics and backed Gerald Ford for re-election in 1976.

But at the GOP conference that yr, he said he was impressed by rival Reagan’s speech, and volunteered on his 1980 presidential marketing campaign while still in legislation college.

Reagan’s marketing campaign assigned Blakeman the delicate job of serving as the private driver and assistant for Nancy Reagan, who had many influential buddies in New York society, he said.

The Nassau County government informed The Post, “She was worried about her husband’s safety. She was very, very protective of her Ronnie.” Robert Miller for NY Post

”Nancy was very variety, very considerate. People usually underestimated her,” Blakeman recalled, saying he largely drove her to marketing campaign fundraisers.

After legislation college, Blakeman returned to New York, labored at his father’s legislation agency and quickly got into Nassau County politics.

But Blakeman had statewide ambitions and even once flirted with operating for New York City mayor.

He was the Republican candidate for state comptroller in 1998, but lost to Democratic incumbent Carl McCall. He lost his seat in the Nassau County legislature the following yr in a pair of political setbacks.

Three years later, then-Gov. George Pataki, the last Republican to maintain statewide workplace, appointed Blakeman a commissioner to the state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

In 2001, Blakeman was appointed commissioner to the state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey under the most latest Republican governor of the Empire State, George Pataki. Obtained by the NY Post

It was just months before terrorists hijacked planes and toppled the World Trade Center owned by the PA on Sept. 11, 2001, killing almost 3,000 individuals and devastating downtown Manhattan.

Blakeman got to work aiding the metropolis and area’s restoration as a PA commissioner serving on several key committees.

It was private for Blakeman.

“My nephew, court officer Tommy Jurgens, was murdered while administering first aid in Tower 2. The building fell on him,” he said.

His physique was never recovered; only his gun and badge.

As the 2026 Republican gubernatorial candidate, Blakeman seems to proceed to increase his political profession, as he said, “People don’t think I can win the race for governor. I’m going to win.” Getty Images

Blakeman served on the PA’s World Trade Center and Security committees and was concerned in the redevelopment plans for the Freedom Tower and Lower Manhattan.

He also attended many funerals of individuals killed in the attack.

“I gave eulogies on behalf of the governor. It was a horrible time, a dark time,” Blakeman said.

But Blakeman still had the thirst for political workplace.

He made unsuccessful runs for the US Senate in 2010 when he lost in a Republican major and was defeated by Democrat Kathleen Rice in a race for a Long Island congressional seat in 2014.

In his private life, however, issues were more rosy as the divorcé discovered love a second time with Segal Magori, now a Nassau County Family Court decide, who he married in 2015.

His political profession got a increase a few years later when, in 2021, he defeated Democratic incumbent Laura Curran for the Nassau County government in what many observers considered as an upset.

“That was a race nobody thought I would win,” Blakeman said.

He won re-election as county government handily last yr and shortly thereafter announced his bid for governor.

Blakeman said his Jewish religion is very necessary to him, and that he was disgusted with what he claims is antisemitism raging within the ranks of the Democratic Party.

“I have a strong belief in God. You’re more likely to be productive and less likely to get into trouble if you have faith,” he said.

D’Amato said Blakeman’s tenacity and resilience make him formidable.

“He lost a couple of races but he never gave up,” D’Amato said.

Blakeman is still staring down the naysayers.

“People don’t think I can win the race for governor. I’m going to win,” he said.