Retired NYC detective Mike Sapraicone winning GOP support in bid to take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
A retired New York City detective is lining up major support in the suburbs and upstate to take on three-term Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Michael Sapraicone said he has won the support of GOP county leaders in Queens and Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties as he plans to take on the Democratic incumbent in the deeply blue Empire State.
Republican party leaders in the Hudson Valley and northern suburbs are also backing his bid for the GOP nomination, he said, with support in places like Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster and Greene counties.
Nassau County Republican Party chairman Joseph Cairo confirmed in a statement to The Post that he backs Sapraicone, who resides in Nassau, over businessman Josh Eisen, who was endorsed by former Gov. George Pataki.
“Mike has my confidence and support in the 2024 election. He possesses the experience and insight to be successful in the campaign for the United States Senate,” Cairo said.
Sapraicone, who has run a security consulting firm, had flirted with running in the special election to replace expelled lying ex-GOP Rep. George Santos in the 3rdh District, which includes Nassau and parts of northern Queens.
The Nassau and Queens GOP chose Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip instead, who lost to Democratic and former congressman Tom Suozzi last week.
Sapraicone will likely be voted the Conservative Party’s choice in the election, chair Gerard Kassar said Sunday.
The Conservative Party — Row C on the ballot — is considered crucial support for Republicans in a statewide race, as Democrats hold a massive 2-to-1 enrollment edge.
The state Republican Party will vote to select a preferred candidate on Thursday. A candidate with more than 50% will be backed by the GOP, while another candidate can qualify to run in a primary with at least 25% of the weighted vote.
The Conservative Party will meet Saturday to select a candidate.
The Republican standard bearer will face an uphill battle against the well-funded Gillibrand as Democrats have dominated statewide races for decades.
Former three-term Gov. Pataki is the last Republican to win a statewide race — back in 2002. But Sapraicone said he’s willing to take on the odds.
“My campaign for U.S. Senate is about honest public service and hard work because New Yorkers deserve nothing less,” he said in a statement.
“I spent two decades in the NYPD serving and protecting our community before building a global security company from the ground up, he added. “I’m running for U.S. Senate because I believe it is nothing less than urgent that we confront and defeat New York’s junior U.S. Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, who has proven contemptuous of our state’s needs while consistently supporting the failed policies of the Biden Administration.”
The former officer said he was “laser focused” on public safety, border security and fiscal responsibility. Sapraicone said crime and the border crisis are issues that favor Republicans and slammed Gillibrand as a “no-show” senator.
The Eisen Campaign responded it was proud to have received Pataki’s endorsement and the backing of other elected officials and county committees.
“We look forward to winning the convention, but welcome a primary where policies and party loyalty can be judged by the rank and file,” the campaign said in a statement.
“Republican voters will get to choose between Dr. Josh Eisen, a $1M GOP donor committed to the second amendment and Never-Trumper Mike Sapraicone, a $150k donor to Nassau County Democrats including Tom Suozzi and a supporter of intrusive gun control laws,” the statement said.
The Post reached out to Gillibrand’s campaign for comment.
