FIRST ON FOX: Following a string of high-profile victories by socialist candidates, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman warned the Democratic Party has veered too far left and predicted establishment Democrats will increasingly back Republicans.Speaking exclusively to Fox News Digital in the wake of Tuesday's wins, Blakeman said the results underscored the growing influence of the party's progressive wing and exposed a widening divide within the Democratic coalition."The lunatic left has taken over the Democratic Party," he said just hours after three socialists backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries in New York districts."They've lost control of their party."The rise of socialist victories against traditional Democrats have intensified debate over the Party's future and the growing influence of its far-left flank.
Republicans have seized on those wins as evidence the party is moving away from moderate voters on issues such as taxes and public safety.MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST CANDIDATE STORMS OUT OF LIVE INTERVIEW WHEN CONFRONTED WITH OLD SOCIAL MEDIA POSTSSocialist New York congressional nominees Darializa Avila Chevalier (L), Claire Valdez (C) and Brad Lander.(Michael M.
Santiago/Getty Images; Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Blakeman, who is running to unseat New York Gov.Kathy Hochul, argued that socialists have effectively taken control of the Democratic Party, creating an opening for Republicans among moderate and working-class voters in the state."They've offered everybody free stuff," Blakeman told Fox News Digital, adding that progressive candidates are making unrealistic promises to voters.
"They're never going to do what they say they're going to," he continued, warning that such proposals would ultimately prove impossible to deliver.He argued voters are being sold an unrealistic vision in which "everything in New York could be free," while longtime Democrats ...