With just weeks left until the general election, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul went up against Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman in their first debate as she bids for four more years in office.
“My opponent says he’s going to bring Trump-style leadership to Albany. He says he’s going to cut Medicaid in half,” said Hochul in the Oct. 13 debate, “And he’s going to let ICE run rampant in our streets. So this is your choice, New Yorkers. I’m not letting this happen. Working together with you, we will not because your family is my fight.”
Hochul, who has been in office since 2021, is going for her second full term as New York State’s Governor. She and Blakeman, the Nassau County Executive, traded barbs over polarizing issues like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) presence in the state, Medicaid cuts, prosecuting the Cornell 7 case, data centers and AI, high energy costs, and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Kathy Hochul has spent $8 billion of your money on illegal migrants for free food, free housing, free transportation, and a free cell phone,” said Blakeman in the debate, likening all “illegal migrants” to criminals and murderers, and later slamming Mayor Zohran Mamdani as an “anti-semite.”
According to the latest Marist polling, Hochul (53%) leads Blakeman (42%) by 11 points among New York’s registered voters. Hochul has large support from New York City and women voters throughout the state, while Blakeman has an advantage in more red-leaning counties upstate and has aligned with Trump. Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Mary Snow noted that Hochul won her gubernatorial race four years ago by single digits, but for the moment she has a sizable lead over Blakeman.
Hochul’s campaign has been courting Black voters for the past few months, especially after the historic announcement back in March that her chosen running mate for Lieutenant Governor is Adrienne Adams, the first Black woman New York City Council speaker. Her campaign opened an election ground team in Flatbush in Brooklyn and other districts across the five boroughs, and she’s been making key appearances like Rev. Al Sharpton’s birthday bash and the NAACP New York State Conference’s 90th anniversary gala. She also has the ardent support of Mayor Mamdani.
“New Yorkers know Governor Kathy Hochul is standing up for and defending their rights. She is fighting with us to protect immigrant New Yorkers. Her opponent is campaigning for a role in Donald Trump’s fan club,” said City Councilmember Rita Joseph, who joined Black Democrats at a debate watch party in the Lips Cafe in Brooklyn on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The city has seen a spike in ICE presence as the governor’s race gets closer, ramping up instances of ICE-involved shootings and sparking huge demonstrations from anti-ICE protestors. Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican father, was shot during an ICE operation near Marble Hill in the Bronx while his five-year-old son witnessed it from the backseat of his car last week. For months, there have been multiple ICE sightings and arrests in Haitian, Hispanic, and other immigrant communities in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
“Being a ‘New Yorker,’ like being an ‘American,’ has nothing to do with when or how you arrived. These identities are based on shared values, values Bruce Blakeman fails to understand. Voters will elect Gov. Kathy Hochul and Adrienne Adams and reject him in November,” said Joseph.
The watch party was supported by local civic organizations like NAACP Brooklyn Chapter, Brooklyn Young Democrats, and sororities like Sigma Gamma Rho.
