ALBANY, New York \u2014 In a time of massive political upheaval, Gov. Kathy Hochul is selling herself as a conventional politician.<\/p>\n

Thrust into the job five years ago, Hochul is running for a second full term without the baggage of Andrew Cuomo, her scandal-scarred predecessor. She has a package of policy wins to tout \u2014 like banning cellphones in schools<\/u><\/a>, no-cost child care and an effort to lower car insurance rates<\/u><\/a>. A prodigious fundraiser, Hochul also has a mammoth cash advantage<\/u><\/a> over her Republican rival, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.<\/p>\n

Yet there are nagging worries among New York Democrats.<\/p>\n

Frustrated voters are rejecting incumbents<\/u><\/a> and establishment-backed candidates. An ascendant left<\/u><\/a> is putting centrist Democrats on their back foot and providing a convenient foil for Republicans to exploit. Sweeping affordability woes and the perception that people are less financially secure than prior generations are driving voters to embrace populist, charismatic candidates.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who has formed a steady, pragmatic relationship<\/u><\/a> with the governor, but is nevertheless highly polarizing to moderate Jewish voters and the business community. Blakeman has sought to leverage that by frequently blaming both Hochul and Mamdani for crime and high taxes.<\/p>\n

Ratcheting up the pressure is Hochul\u2019s need to perform well at the top of the ticket and help push down-ballot Democrats over the finish line, including those in moderate suburban enclaves. Success would enable the governor to reverse the perception \u2014 stoked by<\/u><\/a> former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi four years ago \u2014 that her 2022 campaign\u2019s weak<\/u><\/a> showing against Republican Lee Zeldin kept the House in GOP hands.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s campaign referred Blue Light News to an ally, Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoters are increasingly calling BS on the sort of typical politicians and the establishment is not delivering,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reason why Gov. Hochul is in such a strong position is because she\u2019s so ruthlessly focused on delivering and she has delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York is home to a handful of contested House districts that will potentially determine which party controls the chamber and the course of President Donald Trump\u2019s final two years in office. Those stakes have led Hochul to significantly expand<\/u><\/a> the New York Democratic Party\u2019s infrastructure \u2014 long a political fiefdom solely meant to aid a governor \u2014 to support local candidates.<\/p>\n

To win reelection by a comfortable margin \u2014 her supporters believe it should be by at least 10 points \u2014 Hochul must hold together an increasingly fraught Democratic coalition, riven by debates over socialism, Israel and how aggressively to fight Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul has prided herself on being a mom governor and you see those motherly attributes coming out in how she runs the government,\u201d said former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Hochul ally. \u201cShe\u2019s someone who keeps all the balls in the air at one time, but simultaneously unites everybody. It\u2019s about the grind and moving forward. It\u2019s not about giving grand speeches or winning over the media with flashiness \u2014 it\u2019s about getting it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul, a 68-year-old moderate who has spent much of her professional life in elected office, would appear to be an unlikely fit for this tumultuous moment. The mild mannered Buffalo-native does not lean on bombast. And she can appear purposefully hokey, like in her recent video with actor Kevin Bacon<\/u><\/a> to promote the repeal of an anti-dancing regulation in bars.<\/p>\n

This sedate public persona hasn\u2019t lit voters aflame. A Siena Research Institute survey last month found her drawing only 49 percent of the vote<\/u><\/a> to Blakeman\u2019s 39 percent. Just 48 percent of voters in this deep blue state have a favorable view of her, even as many of her policies \u2014 like attempts to curb Trump\u2019s deportation campaign and a data center moratorium \u2014 are popular.<\/p>\n

Republicans want to capitalize on her so-so polling and persistent voter fears over public safety. They have hammered the governor over the cost of living in a deeply expensive state, blaming her for rising utility costs. Blakeman\u2019s light-on-policy campaign has pledged to cut utility bills in half and significantly reduce taxes without explaining how he would accomplish either task.<\/p>\n

The 70-year-old Republican nominee has hugged Trump tightly during the campaign, showing no daylight with the president even as gas prices have soared due to the war in Iran and upstate farmers have decried the impact of his tariff regime. Blakeman hosted Trump at an August campaign-style rally in which Republican speakers blasted Democrats over public safety with cheering police officers behind them.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s campaign is eagerly highlighting the Trump-Blakeman dynamic: One of her first TV ads concludes with Blakeman declaring \u201cpeace, love and Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wants to talk about individual issues, but this is still an election on where Donald Trump stands with voters in New York \u2014 whether Democrats perceive the governor will be a voice in opposition to Donald trump or if Bruce Blakeman is going to be in lockstep with his policies,\u201d said Jay Martin, a strategist who is working on a pro-Hochul super PAC. \u201cThat\u2019s really the question that\u2019s going to be answered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blakeman is considered by Republicans to be their best bet to bolster down-ballot GOP candidates, especially on bellwether Long Island, where Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen are trying to hold their suburban swing seats. Blakeman has touted his ability to twice win purplish Nassau County, where Mamdani remains a deep concern for suburban voters. Those vulnerable House Democrats, as well as upstate congressional contender Blake Gendebien, have kept Hochul at arm\u2019s length<\/u><\/a> \u2014 an indication they believe her presence would hurt their chances of winning.<\/p>\n

The Republican\u2019s campaign, meanwhile, has eagerly laced into Mamdani and his alliance with Hochul. Blakeman has churned out videos produced with artificial intelligence<\/a> depicting a smiling mayor and governor walking together. He pledged to repeal a surcharge on costly second homes in New York City that was proposed by Hochul and enthusiastically cheered by Mamdani.<\/p>\n

And Blakeman slammed the governor for appearing at an Islamic cultural center in a head scarf, calling her \u201cHijab Hochul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLess than two weeks before the 25th anniversary of 9\/11, this kind of political pandering is especially tone-deaf,\u201d he posted on X<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Hochul\u2019s campaign was quick to amplify<\/a> that Blakeman appeared in religious garb while attending a Sikh center.)<\/p>\n

After Trump posted about the hard scarf photo, Hochul responded<\/a>: “I\u2019ll never apologize for treating people of any faith with dignity, no matter how Islamophobic you and your enablers are.”<\/p>\n

While significantly lagging the governor in fundraising, Blakeman has deep-pocketed allies, including New York Knicks owner James Dolan<\/u><\/a>, the top donor to a super PAC supporting the GOP nominee\u2019s bid. And Republicans believe there is a path, given the Democratic Party\u2019s factionalism and voters\u2019 affordability woes that have proven troublesome to incumbents.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs to raise more money to do the traditional ways of introducing him as a viable alternative to Kathy Hochul \u2014 I think he is, but obviously money is the next star that has to align,\u201d former Republican Rep. Tom Reed said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have to match her one to one. The path is aligning itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blakeman will also need to win over pockets of voters who have traditionally supported Democrats \u2014 moderates who are uncomfortable with the party\u2019s leftward drift in the Trump 2.0 era and continue to be concerned with the cost of living. And while Republicans haven\u2019t won a statewide race since 2006, public polling this year shows independent voters are consistently disgruntled with the direction of the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe traditional red-versus-blue analysis is going out the door,\u201d Reed said. \u201cYou saw Trump tap in with the African-American vote, the trades \u2014 it\u2019s a reflection of that,\u201d Reed said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for those of the silent majority that are just sick and tired of the status quo, big party bosses, they think they can just phone it in and not listen to the people of New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Zeldin\u2019s 2022 bid \u2014 conducted in the middle of Joe Biden\u2019s single-term presidency \u2014 still had trouble making sufficient in-roads in Democratic-dominated New York City.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s successful mayoral campaign last year signaled a different kind of political realignment. He knit together a coalition of mostly young voters upset with costs and highly skeptical of establishment politicians like his main opponent, Cuomo.<\/p>\n

But Mamdani\u2019s rise has also unnerved New York\u2019s large Jewish population<\/u><\/a>. Business leaders have been uneasy<\/u><\/a> with his unapologetic battle cry to raise taxes on wealthy people and large corporations. And he has struggled to win over older Black and Latino voters \u2014 people who\u2019ve traditionally been the backbone of the New York Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

The governor sidestepped what stood to be a divisive primary fight when Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado dropped his long-shot bid after Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed her reelection. Hochul\u2019s team purposefully declined to directly attack Delgado \u2014 a strategic decision that helped keep the party together. She’s been able to work well with the mayor, forgoing the historic tensions that arise between governors and mayors. Unlike some moderate Democrats, Hochul has not excoriated the hard left in her party while making clear she disagrees with them on issues like Israel and hiking taxes.<\/p>\n

Hochul told Blue Light News in August<\/u><\/a> that she expects Mamdani will be \u201chelpful\u201d to her campaign. But it\u2019s an open question as to whether the mayor\u2019s supporters can be sufficiently marshaled to support his Albany ally. At the same time, Hochul must delicately thread a needle to ensure that she does not alienate those within her own coalition who are disquieted by Mamdani\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cMamdani is a double-edged sword for the governor,\u201d said Evan Thies, a Democratic strategist and former political adviser to ex-Mayor Eric Adams. \u201cThe numbers show he can turn out Democratic voters for her in the city \u2014 but also that he can hurt her elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"