The Bronx Republican Party, more commonly known as the Bronx GOP, is a regional affiliate of the

United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Two-party system, two major parties, it emerged as t ...

for the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Leadership

Unlike most other county affiliates for the Republican Party, mostly due to the small size of the Bronx GOP, they do not maintain a traditional committee, instead simply having a chairman and a leader for each seat in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

. The Current Chairman is Michael Rendino, who was elected in 2016 and re-elected to the office in 2019. He is still the Chair of the organization as of 2025.

History

Malcolm Smith bribery scandal

On April 2, 2013, the party's chairman Joseph J. Savino was arrested on charges of corruption for accepting a bribe from Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith to secure the Republican nomination for the

2013 New York City mayoral election The 2013 New York City mayoral election occurred on November 5, 2013, along with elections for Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, and members of the New York City Council. The incumbent mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg ...

. He would be succeeded by John Greaney, a navy veteran and firefighter from the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and a former civil employee who raised concerns as he was a personal friend of Savino and had thousands of dollars of debt.

2016 election

During the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that we ...

, the

New York Republican State Committee The New York Republican State Committee, established in 1855, is the New York (state), New York State affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party (GOP). The party has headquarters in Albany, New York, Albany ...

awarded 3 delegates to the Republicans of the 15th district which is solely in the Bronx. Meaning the small Bronx Republican party suddenly found themselves in the midst of a heated race between

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

to secure their delegates. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' assessed Bronx Republicans where the most "powerful" Republicans in the country, with only 741 voters for every 1 delegate. The Bronx GOP backed Donald Trump, in part due to the Trump Links golf course at

Ferry Point Park Ferry Point Park is a park in the Bronx, New York City. The park site is a peninsula projecting into the East River roughly opposite the College Point and Malba neighborhoods of Queens. The park is located on the eastern shore of Westchester ...

which improved the local economy, and in part because Ted Cruz did not tell the party he would be visiting the Bronx, with a Democratic State Senator for a campaign stop. Shortly after the election, the chairman John Greaney stepped down due to health complications from the

, and a new chairman, former vice-chairman Michael Rendino was elected in a local sports bar.

2020 election

In 2020, Donald Trump received 15.7% of the Borough's vote, compared to 9.4% in 2016, which was the steepest pro-Trump increase across the city, which saw a general pro-Republican trend during the election.

2021 election

During the

2021 New York City mayoral election The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. On June 22, 2021, the primary elections for the Democratic Party (United States), ...

, the party endorsed

Fernando Mateo Fernando Mateo is a Dominican-American businessman, activist, and politician who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City in the 2021 mayoral election. Early life and career Mateo was born in 1957 or 1958 in the Dominican Republic, the ...

for the Republican nomination. Mateo, the spokesmen for Hispanics Across America, and the state Federation of Taxi Drivers, was the first latino immigrant to run for mayor as a Republican. Despite another endorsement from the Queens Republican Party, Mateo would be unable to secure the third endorsement to become candidate, instead

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Brooklyn and Staten Island's party would endorse

Curtis Sliwa Curtis Sliwa (; born March 26, 1954) is an American activist, radio talk show host, and founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit crime prevention organization. Sliwa was the Republican Party (United States), Republ ...

2022 election

In the 2022 election for District 14, the Bronx GOP stood a candidate, Tina Forte, who defeated Queens Republican Desi Joseph Cuellar in a primary to go on to face

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

. Ocasio-Cortez would handily win 70% to 23%.

2023 election

Despite the party's small size, they have undergone a concerted effort to launch a competitive campaign for the 13th city council district held by first term councilwoman

Marjorie Velázquez Marjorie Velázquez (born August 11, 1981) is an American politician from New York City. A Democrat, Velázquez served as a member of the New York City Council representing the 13th district, which covers parts of the eastern Bronx. Velázquez wa ...

. Kristy Marmorato, chairman Michael Rendino's sister, won the party's primary, in a move that has been decried as nepotism, despite Rendino having no say in the primary. George Havranek, Marmorato's challenger in the primary, was also accused of committing electoral fraud by forging signatures, and admitted to donating to Velázquez's campaign in 2021. Marmorato would go on to win after a run-off election, and secure the endorsement of the Conservative Party. '' The City'' assessed the campaign would be close due to the local

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

population shifting away from Velázquez due to the ongoing housing crisis. Marmorato would defeat Velazquez with 52.9% to Velazquez's 47.1%. In the 17th District, the Bronx GOP candidate, Rosalie Nieves, is running unopposed and will face off against incumbent democrat

Rafael Salamanca Rafael "Ralph" Salamanca Jr. (born July 2, 1980) is the Councilmember for the 17th district of the New York City Council. He is a Democrat. The district includes portions of Concourse Village, East Tremont, Hunts Point, Longwood, Melrose, Mo ...

, an
Gonzalo Duran
Salamanca's democratic challenger who has secured the Conservative Party's nomination.

2024 election

In the 15th Congressional District, the Bronx County Conservative Party candidate and Bronx GOP endorsed candidate
Gonzalo Duran
is running unopposed and will face off against incumbent democrat

Ritchie Torres Ritchie John Torres (born March 12, 1988) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served on the New York City Council from 2014 to 2020. His congression ...

2025 election

Main article: 2025 New York City Public Advocate election On February 18, Gonzalo Duran announced that he would be running for

Public Advocate An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

of New York City. On February 25, both the Bronx Republican and Conservative Parties announced that they had chosen Duran as their candidate for Public Advocate. This marks the first time in over 10 years that a citywide Conservative Party candidate has received a cross-party endorsement. Duran will be challenging the incumbent, Jumaane D. Williams.

Elected officials

As of 2023, the Bronx GOP has no elected officials in the

New York Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term ...

New York House of Representatives The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assembl ...

, or the Executive of New York and just one in the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

. The last Republican Borough president of the Bronx was Joseph Periconi, who served one term from 1962-65. Prior to him, there was only one other Republican borough president, Douglas Mathewson, who served from 1914-17. The last Republican state senator from the Bronx was

Guy Velella Guy John Velella (September 25, 1944 – January 27, 2011) was an American Republican politician serving as a New York State Senator from the Bronx. A political leader, state assemblyman, and state senator for over 30 years, Velella was indi ...

who left office in 2004. New York City Council * Kristy Marmorato represents the 13th District since 2024.

References

{{reflist New York Republican State Committee Organizations based in the Bronx Year of establishment missing