Gov. Kathy Hochul took a jaunt to her GOP gubernatorial challenger Bruce Blakeman’s Lengthy Island house turf Monday — swiping again at his assaults as a bombshell new ballot confirmed the race tightening.
Throughout back-to-back appearances in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Hochul solid a Blakeman marketing campaign mailer that blamed her and socialist New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani for “sky excessive taxes, rising utility payments and uncontrolled crime” as pure fantasy.
“That’s fascinating — as a result of it’s not primarily based on truth,” she claimed, as she introduced a brand new $100 million grant package deal for legislation enforcement tech in Freeport.
The Democratic governor as an alternative blamed Blakeman’s fellow Republicans in Washington, DC, for driving up prices by backing President Trump’s struggle in Iran and tariffs.
She additionally mentioned the Trump administration’s latest transfer to dam federal catastrophe funds for New York’s response to devastating blizzards throughout February was “political.”
“They suppose it’s hurting me, however it’s backfiring,” Hochul insisted.
However a latest ballot exhibits Blakeman, the Nassau County government, trailing Hochul by simply 6 factors within the governor’s race.
Hochul leads 47% to 41% amongst possible normal election voters with 12% undecided, in response to the brand new survey performed by the agency co/environment friendly for the right-leaning Coalition to Defend Nassau Taxpayers.
The agency precisely predicted in 2022 that the race between Hochul and then-Lengthy Island Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin could be nearer than public polling had anticipated.
She ended up profitable by 6 share posts — the identical unfold that co/environment friendly had between the candidates in its September 2022 polling.
The brand new ballot’s findings conflict with different public surveys displaying Hochul is up by a cushty double-digit margin or as a lot as 20 factors.
However it additionally hinted that Blakeman might capitalize — if he’s not already — on voters’ worries about rising socialism.
The survey discovered that 55% of voters have been very involved or involved about socialism, whereas 45% weren’t involved.
However Hochul tried to solid herself as a big-tent pragmatist keen to work with everybody throughout the political spectrum, from Trump on the proper to Mamdani on the left.
“We aren’t changing into a socialist state due to an election of numerous people in New York Metropolis,” Hochul insisted throughout an interview on 103.9 Lengthy Island Information Radio Monday morning, forward of her go to there.
“My job is proceed to work with whomever the voters need me to work with,” she instructed host Jay Oliver — apparently in reference to Mamdani and the wave of his fellow Democratic Socialists of American candidates who simply swept in final month’s primaries.
Hochul completed her Lengthy Island journey in Suffolk County, the place she signed laws permitting the MTA to purchase the previous Lawrence Aviation web site. The transfer will assist defend the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Path.
“You’ll be able to stage all of the picture ops you need, Kathy. New Yorkers know you created this mess — and I really made our neighborhoods safer,” Blakeman snipped in a press release.
His marketing campaign spokesperson, Madison Spanodemos, added concerning the mailer: ““Each New Yorker must know that the Hochul-Mamdani group is the explanation their taxes and utility payments are hovering, whereas Bruce Blakeman has the plan to slash earnings taxes and reduce utility payments in half.”
Hochul’s personal reputation isn’t serving to her re-election marketing campaign, because the ballot discovered solely 32% of possible voters have a positive view of her.
“Hochul is deeply disliked throughout the state,” mentioned co/environment friendly pollster Ryan Munce.
