“In my opinion, the Bronx Republican Party has done more harm to the Conservative- Republican movement in the Bronx than the Bronx Democratic Party,” said Patrick McManus, chairman of the Bronx Conservative Party.
It is a strong statement, but this election cycle speaks for itself.
There were potentially 21 Bronx races in which Republicans could have challenged Democratic incumbents or competed for open seats. Those races include four congressional districts that touch the Bronx, six State Senate seats and 11 Assembly seats. Yet the Bronx GOP put forward only four candidates. Two are essentially paper candidates running against candidates already backed by the Bronx Conservative Party.
Republicans have struggled for years to recruit candidates in the heavily Democratic Bronx. Over the past four years, the Conservative Party has worked to change that by recruiting candidates and putting challengers on the ballot.
This year, the Conservative Party approached the Republican organization about cross-endorsing several candidates, including registered Conservatives willing to carry both lines. Instead, those efforts were rejected or ignored, while competing candidates were placed into races where Conservative-backed candidates were already running.
The 15th Congressional District
In New York’s 15th Congressional District, Gonzalo Duran, vice chairman of the Bronx Conservative Party and a district leader in the 79th Assembly District, sought both the Republican and Conservative lines.
Duran entered the race after his 2025 campaign for New York City Public Advocate, which garnered more than 490,000 votes citywide, more than double the vote total of the Republican mayoral candidate. He also participated in more than a dozen rallies within his Bronx district and maintained a visible media presence.
Rather than cross-endorse him, the Bronx GOP backed Stylo Sapaskis, who has maintained no public campaign presence.
Instead of consolidating behind an active candidate, Republicans created a divided opposition in one of the most Democratic congressional districts in the country.
The 86th Assembly District
The 86th Assembly District provides an even clearer example.
Shery Olivo is a registered Republican who has been politically active for the past two years. She campaigned alongside Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, helped establish the Dominican American Republican Club and became one of the relatively few registered Republicans appointed to a Bronx community board.
Yet the Bronx GOP backed Maria Diaz against her.
Evidence has raised serious questions surrounding Diaz’s petitions, residency and campaign activity, deepening questions about why Republican leadership chose to oppose an active Republican rather than help her challenge Democrats.
The Bronx Conservative Party backed Olivo. She made the ballot, qualified for matching funds and continues to actively campaign. Instead of focusing entirely on Democrats, she has been forced to fight members of her own political party.
That is not how you build a red wave.
A Party Without Candidates
The larger numbers tell the story.
There are six State Senate seats covering the Bronx this election cycle, with no Republican challengers. There are 11 Assembly seats, with only one active Republican challenger.
Four congressional districts touch portions of the Bronx. In the one located entirely within the borough, the 15th Congressional District, Republicans chose to run a separate candidate rather than unite behind the Conservative candidate already campaigning.
The Republican Party does not need to win every Bronx race overnight. Decades of Democratic dominance will not disappear in one election.
But you cannot build a party without candidates.
You cannot grow a movement by fighting Republicans and Conservatives willing to run.
And you cannot promise a “red wave” while leaving race after race uncontested.
If the Bronx GOP was unwilling to recruit candidates, the Bronx Conservative Party had candidates ready to step forward. Some registered Republicans have even found more support from the Conservative Party than from their own organization.
Republicans and Conservatives will not agree on everything. But in a borough overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats, the priority should be recruiting candidates, strengthening campaigns and giving voters an alternative, not fighting among ourselves.
If Republicans truly want a red wave in the Bronx, they need to stop destroying it before it ever reaches the shore.