Republican Bruce Blakeman, a 'friend of Samaria,' has been elected as the Executive of Nassau County in New York State.
This is the first time in 25 years that a Republican has been elected to this position as leader of the county of 1.3 million people.
Until a few weeks ago, Blakeman was a member of the Hempstead City Council in New York, which signed a twin-city agreement with Samaria.
Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan has worked with Blakeman many times, including when the Hempstead municipality divested from Unilever over the Ben & Jerry's boycott of Judea and Samaria.
Dagan wrote a letter in support of Blakeman prior to this week's election in which he called Blakeman "a true Zionist and an asset for your community."
"Bruce is a true partner of settlement in Samaria," Dagan says. "A leader from his youth. He is a strategic asset both for the residents of Nassau District who won a determined leader and for the State of Israel and Samaria who won such an important friend that has been elected to one of the most prominent positions in New York. I wish Bruce good luck."