Gov. Kathy Hochul defeats Bruce Blakeman for NYS governor

Gov. Kathy Hochul won a commanding reelection Tuesday over Republican Bruce Blakeman, capitalizing on superior fundraising, a huge enrollment advantage and an anti-Trump campaign theme used by Democrats across the country.

The victory means a second full term for Hochul, who quashed dissension within the moderate and progressive wings of the party, snuffed out challengers and raised a formidable amount of money to run again. She led in the independent polls by double digits most of the year and Blakeman never closed the gap. She had ascended from lieutenant governor in 2021, after then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resigned, and her narrow election win in 2022 ushered in a slew of challengers lining up for a primary fight.

Four years later, Hochul, 68, focused most of her campaign on telling voters she has been a bulwark against the Trump administration and would continue to be on issues such as immigration, renewable energy and Canadian tariffs. She didn't outline a new agenda if reelected as much as promise to continue working on those issues.

Hochul in her victory speech in New York City Tuesday night, counted off Democratic victories nationally and locally, saying: “This is how we take back our country. … Tonight, the people of New York sent a message that will be heard far beyond our state lines.”

She said she would continue to address affordability, housing, childcare as she has in her first term: “That’s what the next four years are for — to finish what we started,” Hochul said.

She also silenced the crowd when they started to boo after she mentioned Blakeman's name. "I'll work for the people of Nassau County," she said. "The people of Nassau deserve no less."

She will return to the state Capitol in Albany along with a Democrat-controlled State Legislature. But if the blue wave that was expected to help Democrats nationally also improves the party's numbers in Albany, the strong Democratic wins could lead to an emboldened State Legislature, which has a supermajority and could override any vetoes.

“Hochul should send Trump some flowers and candy because Trump is responsible for the destruction of the Republican Party tonight,” veteran Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said. “Hochul deserves credit for being an extraordinarily hard campaigner, for being able to run a campaign that made sense to voters and being able to raise the kind of money she did.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) congratulated Hochul, but in a national context: "I am proud to call Governor Hochul a partner in our fight to protect all our residents, put hard earned money back in the pockets of New Yorkers and make our state a more affordable place to live."//

Blakeman, 71, was trying to become the first Republican to win a statewide election in New York since then-Gov. George Pataki in 2002.

He presented a moderate, pro-choice GOP profile who had won in a large population county that has more Democrats than Republicans. It was the profile the party had lacked for a generation, when a string of anti-abortion-rights candidates fell short.

But he faced significant challenges: Democrats’ 2-1 enrollment advantage, Hochul and Democrats’ combined $34 million campaign funds advantage as of midsummer, his low name recognition outside of Long Island and his close relationship with President Donald Trump.

Blakeman tried to strike a balance with Trump, who has low approval ratings in New York, but can still motivate core Republican supporters. Blakeman campaigned with the president, called him a good friend and defended some of his policies, including deportations, while also noting he wasn't on the ballot.

Trump proved to be an overarching figure in the campaign, as he was in other states.

Hochul repeatedly invoked the president and his policies, especially the impact of Canadian tariffs on upstate New York, during the one and only governor's debate.

Blakeman fired back that Hochul was avoiding talking about New York's high costs and taxes.

"You talk about Donald Trump all the time because you don’t want to talk about your record," Blakeman said, and, at another point, added: "Trump. Trump. Trump. That’s all you can say."

The debate, like the campaign, displayed sharp divisions between the candidates on crime, immigration, data centers, tariffs, energy prices, union support and natural gas drilling.

Many voters who spoke to Newsday on Tuesday hammered themes raised by Hochul in her campaign, namely about the sharply rising cost of living and unhappiness with Trump.

Hempstead resident Mark Atkinson, 34, said affordability brought him to the polls Tuesday.

"I'm also looking for just general decency in our civics," Atkinson, who said he's not registered with any party, said after voting at Barack Obama Elementary School in Hempstead. "I think that's been challenging lately. The political climate as a whole."

Olga Belleau, of Setauket, said she came out to vote, in part, because of affordability issues.

"The economy — that’s one of the main issues," she said outside Arrowhead Elementary School on Tuesday. "You can’t live on Social Security anymore. And the money you have saved is dwindling like never before."

Affordability was the prime concern of Malik Archer, 30, of Massapequa, who told Newsday after casting his ballot at AG Berner Middle School.

"Rent, gas, eggs; it’s all getting out of hand," said Archer, a registered Democrat.

Still, Michael Ashner, 77, of Cove Neck, a registered independent, voted for Blakeman because of his concern about the "surge of the progressive left."

"I’m disturbed by that," he said after voting in Syosset. "I believe in equal opportunity. I’m an incrementalist."

Newsday's Candice Ferrette, Sam Kmack and Deborah Morris contributed to this story.