Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is ignoring the political baggage that comes with her alliance with the Left, betting there is even greater upside in tapping into the grassroots enthusiasm she hopes will buoy her reelection campaign.
Hochul, a centrist running for a second full term as governor, has been relentlessly attacked by her GOP opponent, Bruce Blakeman, for appearing with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and helping implement certain elements of his agenda.
The Nassau County executive has called her a “doormat” for Mamdani and predicted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), another darling of the Left, was unintentionally helping him by appearing on the campaign trail.
“The more she campaigns for Kathy Hochul, the greater chance of my election,” Blakeman said last month.
The risk for Hochul is that Blakeman’s message will break through with independent voters and the soft Democrats he needs to pull off a political upset.
Mamdani, in particular, is controversial for pro-Palestinian rhetoric that critics say borders on antisemitism and has alienated New York’s large Jewish population. He’s also an avowed socialist, an ideology that, despite its growing popularity with the party base, is still opposed by a sizable share of Democrats.
The possible upside for Hochul is the downstate enthusiasm that Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez, young and charismatic voices who have credibility on the Left, can bring to her reelection campaign.
Mamdani’s endorsement already helped kill a primary challenge from Antonio Delgado, her own lieutenant governor, in February. For the general election, Hochul, 68, needs to turn out Democratic voters who might otherwise view her as too establishment or milquetoast.
New York hasn’t elected a Republican governor in more than two decades, making Blakeman’s campaign something of a long shot. The latest polls show him behind by as much as 13 points.
But Hochul’s 2022 challenger, Lee Zeldin, came surprisingly close, and Democrats want to be sure her coattails are long enough to help them win House races downballot.
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Hochul’s appearances with Ocasio-Cortez include a Tuesday event where she brushed off the idea that she’s trading support in the suburbs for votes in deep-blue enclaves such as New York City.
“You’re doing far more calculation than I ever have,” Hochul said at a press conference held to tout their joint support for a moratorium on data centers.
“It’s all about our mutual interests in focusing on affordability, lifting up New Yorkers, empowering localities, and I wouldn’t read any more into it than that,” Hochul said.
Mamdani has committed to recording video and social media posts on her behalf and is expected to appear on the campaign trail for Hochul in the closing weeks of her campaign.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrive to a news conference in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?w=696" height="683" width="1024" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?w=696" alt="New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrive to a news conference in the Staten Island borough of New York, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)" class="wp-image-4759777" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg 5805w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=696,464 696w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=1068,712 1068w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26117653783925.jpg?resize=1920,1280 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrive at a news conference on Monday, April 27, 2026, in the Staten Island borough of New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
His friendliness with Hochul is unusual for a New York City mayor, in part because of their ideological differences, but also because of the rocky relationship governors tend to have with Gracie Mansion.
But it is based on an early calculation Hochul made to set aside those differences and hand Mamdani political victories he could bring back to his base. She helped him expand no-cost childcare in New York City after he won his insurgent campaign for mayor last year.
And though she has scrutinized Mamdani’s rollout of a tax on luxury second homes, she threw critical support behind the proposal.
“The governor has been a real partner — not just to me, but frankly, to the city of New York as a whole,” Mamdani said Tuesday when asked about his endorsement of Hochul.
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The perils of pursuing that alliance were apparent this week as Hochul was forced to address the chants of “from the river to the sea” that were shouted at a college event for Ocasio-Cortez. The slogan is widely viewed as calling for the destruction of Israel.
“That’s not appropriate,” Hochul said Tuesday. “I condemn that kind of language as being antisemitic. Always have and always will.”
On Wednesday, Blakeman accused Hochul of “enabling” Mamdani after the lion’s share of his Oct. 7 message focused on civilian deaths in Gaza instead of the 2023 massacre of Israelis by Hamas.
It remains to be seen whether Hochul’s associations with the Left will prove to be a liability. Lincoln Mitchell, a New York-based political pundit and lecturer at Columbia University, believes her reputation is too established to make a serious dent with most voters.
“That doesn’t necessarily rub off on Hochul because she’s so obviously a conventional, old-school New York politician,” Mitchell said. “Hochul is just of that world so much that the idea that she is an antisemite by proxy is not plausible.”
Blakeman sees the liability as extending beyond Mamdani’s views on Israel, however, and is trying to link Hochul to virtually any controversial part of his mayorship, including Mamdani’s support for tax hikes on the wealthy.
“The Hochul-Mamdani Dumb and Dumber Tour is coming for your paycheck with endless tax hikes to fund their big government socialist agenda,” Blakeman spokeswoman Madison Spanodemos said in a statement.
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It is a campaign strategy that Hochul herself has employed, but in reverse. She has closely associated Blakeman with President Donald Trump to dent his crossover appeal, painting him as a “suck-up” who wouldn’t confront the White House as governor.
Blakeman has unorthodox GOP views on abortion access and illegal immigration, two issues that have helped build his reputation as a centrist. But he has, by and large, run as a traditional Republican and will be campaigning with the president in Syracuse, New York, on Friday.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
