$\"GOP$ <\/p>\n

BLAKEMAN\u2019S (LACK OF) ENERGY PLAN:<\/b> GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman continued to hammer Gov. Kathy Hochul on rising energy costs today, promising to slash utility bills in half if he\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n

The Republican, however, still has not offered up a policy proposal on how he\u2019d go about doing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul increased our utility rates 48 times in four years,\u201d Blakeman said in upper Manhattan this morning.<\/p>\n

The Washington Heights press conference, which included former Gov. George Pataki, was heavy on rhetoric and relatively light on details. Afterward, Blakeman\u2019s campaign would not spell out how exactly he plans to cut consumer utility costs and did not respond to a request for clarification about his claim that Hochul increased utility rates 48 times. (While the state\u2019s Public Service Commission has approved increases in major utility rate cases during Hochul\u2019s tenure, those hikes have been less than what the utilities requested<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s puppet, Bruce Blakeman \u2026 wants data centers raising your costs and said Trump was doing an \u2018amazing job\u2019 after he jacked up utility bills.\u201d Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement. \u201cTwo weeks from irrelevance, here\u2019s what Blakeman won\u2019t tell you: Governor Kathy Hochul delivered a billion dollars in energy relief, ten billion in tax relief, and made data centers pay for the energy they use.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nassau County executive described meeting the owner of a Bronx diner who told him the business would need to sell 1,000 burgers a month to pay its $16,000 utility bill. Blakeman said he would legalize fracking to help New Yorkers lower their energy bills fast.<\/p>\n

Aside from the fact that fracking doesn\u2019t necessarily lead to lower utility bills<\/a> and the reality that Blakeman would need buy-in from the state\u2019s Democratic-dominated Legislature to do so, he insists that legalizing fracking could offer near-term relief from high energy costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met with those same individuals and companies that are doing the extraction of natural gas in Pennsylvania. They told me they can be up and running in 60 days,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cIf Albany has the will to reduce people’s utility bills \u2026 we can get it done in 60 days.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to Pennsylvania, arguing that the state has lower electric bills because it allows fracking. But he neglected to mention that Pennsylvania is not part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative \u2014 the carbon trading program of 11 eastern states, which Blakeman has pledged to withdraw from if he is elected.<\/p>\n

Pataki, the last Republican to serve as governor in the Empire State, spearheaded the creation of that initiative, which is commonly known as RGGI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept is right, but the way it’s being done in Albany is wrong,\u201d Pataki said at the presser, accusing Albany of using RGGI as a \u201cslush fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if New York did withdraw from RGGI, the benefit would amount to a 5% to 6% decrease on an average New York residential household bill, according to an estimate from National Grid<\/a> \u2014 barely making a dent in the 50% Blakeman is promising to slash.<\/p>\n

Exactly how the state would cover the rest of his proposed cut remains unclear.<\/p>\n

Affordability, though, continues to be a key concern in Washington Heights, a largely Dominican neighborhood that Mayor Zohran Mamdani did well in during his ascent to victory last year.<\/p>\n

To drive their message home, the Republicans even attempted to make their pitch in Spanish. Pataki, much more practiced in this than Blakeman, talked about how much he loved the \u201cbarrio\u201d when he was governor, describing Blakeman as a leader \u201cmuy fuerte.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGracias, hombre grande,\u201d Blakeman exclaimed, before touting what he views as the GOP ticket\u2019s immigrant bonafides \u2014 Saritha Komatireddy for attorney general and Joe Hernandez for comptroller.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor, your Spanish is better than my Spanish, and I grew up speaking it,\u201d Hernandez praised Pataki. \u2014<\/i> Mona Zhang<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

From the Capitol<\/h3>\n
$\"A$ <\/p>\n
LABOR BOOSTS GOV: <\/b>A coalition of public employee unions is joining the crowded roster of super PACs spending on the gubernatorial election.<\/p>\n
The New York Accountability Coalition has received $550,000 in recent weeks from the Civil Service Employees Association, Public Employees Federation, District Council 37, and CWA District One. It\u2019ll soon spend that money to boost Hochul.<\/p>\n
The governor \u201cis laser-focused on lowering costs for working families and investing in public services,\u201d AFSCME\u2019s Courtney Brunelle-Kim said. \u201cBruce Blakeman is just another pay-to-play politician. From now until Election Day, we\u2019ll be working to ensure that voters in key districts know The Blakeman Record.\u201d<\/p>\n
The super PAC spent $460,000 this spring helping Comptroller Tom DiNapoli as he faced two Democratic primary challengers. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL<\/h3>\n
$\"A$ <\/p>\n
AD PULLED: <\/b>A clean energy super PAC yanked a version of an ad airing in a competitive upstate House district after Republican candidate Anthony Constantino\u2019s attorney complained the spot was defamatory.<\/p>\n
The group Invest In Tomorrow Coalition recently began airing the spot in the sprawling North Country House seat that accused Constantino \u2014 who runs a custom sticker business \u2014 of selling anti-police merchandise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do Anthony Constantino and violent anti-cop extremists have in common? They both think \u2018kill the police\u2019 is a good slogan,\u201d the ad\u2019s narrator says.<\/p>\n
Constantino\u2019s attorney last week contacted a lawyer for the super PAC alleging the contents of the ad were false and defamatory. On Saturday, the group signaled it would suspend further distribution of the current ad. So far, the PAC has spent some $243,000 in the district in the last three days, according to AdImpact.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnthony Constantino may lawyer up, but he can\u2019t sticker over the truth: he\u2019s gotten rich off selling vile merch, including hosting a listing for a \u2018Kill the Police\u2019 sticker and other anti-cop listings<\/a> that are still active today<\/a>,\u201d said Chris Coffey, a spokesperson for the group. \u201cAs a token of our gratitude and recognition of his desire to spread that message, ITC PAC is putting $250,000 more behind the original ad buy to make sure all of NY-21 knows the real Anthony Constantino.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fight over the commercial comes as Constantino is trying to retain the seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik. Polls have shown Democrat Blake Gendebien running competitively against the Republican, however, giving the race a surprising dose of uncertainty in the final two weeks. \u2014 Nick Reisman<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
HOUSE HUNTING: <\/b>Two New York battleground districts have again moved in Democrats\u2019 favor, according to a nonpartisan election forecaster.<\/p>\n
Sabato\u2019s Crystal Ball shifted<\/a> Stefanik\u2019s upstate seat from \u201clikely Republican\u201d to \u201cleans Republican\u201d today, as well as Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen\u2019s Long Island district from \u201cleans Democratic\u201d to \u201clikely Democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Stefanik seat covers a sprawling, deep-red area \u2014 though Democrats are feeling bullish in part because of the Trump administration\u2019s tariffs impacting farmers there.<\/p>\n
Gillen faces a challenge from Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll. Kamala Harris narrowly won that district in 2024, but Republicans are counting on tailwinds from Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, to boost down-ballot candidates. \u2014<\/i> Madison Fernandez<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n\u2014 REAL ESTATE STRIKES BACK:<\/b> A new organization called Built For New York hopes to promote the real estate industry\u2019s interests in the wake of a pro-tenant political sweep in New York City. (The New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\u2014 PAC ALERT:<\/b> A coalition of Jewish Democrats from the Capital Region launched a state-level PAC dedicated to supporting liberal candidates who push back on anti-Jewish and anti-Israel forces. (Jewish Insider<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\u2014 BOOZE BUCKS:<\/b> Lily Fan, chair of the State Liquor Authority and a close Hochul ally, donated $40,000 to a pro-Hochul super PAC that\u2019s run by people who lobby the liquor industry. (New York Focus<\/a>)<\/p>\n
Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. <\/b>Read it here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BLAKEMAN\u2019S (LACK OF) ENERGY PLAN: GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman continued to hammer Gov. Kathy Hochul on rising energy costs today, promising to slash utility bills in half if he\u2019s elected. The Republican, however, still has not offered up a policy proposal on how he\u2019d go about doing that. \u201cKathy Hochul increased our utility rates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}