New York City voters head to the polls Tuesday after a surge in early voting, capping a high-stakes campaign where affordability was one of the defining issues.
More than 690,000 voters had cast their ballots in New York City since early voting opened Oct. 24, up from more than 432,000 in the 2022 governor’s race.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is hoping not just for a win but a more definitive victory than the one she eked out four years ago, focusing on affordability amid cost-of-living increases.
Her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has positioned himself as the savior of a state he says is overrun by crime and sky-high taxes.
The race, and Hochul’s possible margin of victory, will be closely watched by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his team as they prepare to push the next governor to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund housing and childcare in New York City.
Both candidates spent the weekend on the stump, criss-crossing the state to urge voters to the polls.
Blakeman campaigned throughout the city and Long Island, telling supporters at a rally Saturday in Middle Village in Queens that “help is on the way.”
“I feel like a winner,” he told The City Reporter about the days heading up to Tuesday’s election.
Hochul was joined by top Democrats including Mayor Mamdani, who accompanied her at the Queens Night Market on Saturday and watched a Buffalo Bills game at an Astoria bar on Sunday, alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The governor was confident that she’d sail to victory on Tuesday, just like her beloved Bills.
“When you’re focusing on affordability and what we can do to help lift up New Yorkers, that is the message that is resonating,” Hochul said during the game.
Late Polls Boost Hochul
A late October poll by Marist University found Hochul was up 11 points against Blakeman, with 4 percent of voters undecided. A Siena University poll had Hochul up 14 points.
The biggest issue for voters is the economy and cost of living, according to an October Quinnipiac University poll. That’s shown in ads from both of the candidates, with Blakeman focusing on increases under Hochul.
At Blakeman’s rally Saturday in Middle Village, U.S. Army soldier Juan Nieves, 32, said his top priority was safety.
“I you don’t have law and order, we would have nothing,” he said.
Peter Kauffmann, a Democratic strategist, said Hochul’s re-election campaign was notably stronger than her 2022 effort, and with more emphasis on voter concerns.
“It’s great to see that she’s actually responding to issues that people care about, she seems really focused,” he told The City Reporter.
Hochul’s relationship with Mamdani has also energized her campaign and voters, even if Blakeman has tried to use it against his opponent.
“I think they will continue to govern well with one another,” Kauffmann said.
State Attorney General Letitia James is also up for re-election, and has been challenged by Republican Saritha Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor.
Recent polling showed James up by at least 15 percentage points.
The state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli also faces Republican Joseph Hernandez, who ran for New York City mayor last year.
New York City voters will also decide on five ballot proposals that the mayor says will, if passed, cut bureaucracy around how the city builds bike and bus lanes, contracts with small businesses and sells and leases some properties.
Democrats across the country are hoping to reclaim the House of Representatives and the Senate with pivotal races in states like Texas, Maine and Michigan. The issues nationally match those in New York City: the rising cost of living, which is felt acutely in the five boroughs.
If Democrats prevail nationally, two Brooklynites could wind up running Congress: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. (New York City’s House races were largely decided in the June Democratic primary. Schumer and Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are not up for reelection this year.)
A recent AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found just 25% of polled adults approved of how President Donald Trump was handling the economy — down from 32% in July.
L. Joy Williams, the president of the New York State NAACP Conference of Branches, said affordability is the biggest issue “across the board.”
“I don’t think it matters in terms of race, ethnicity,” she said.
“Even though wealthier people are making money hand over fist, everybody else is not. That’s what’s driving people.”
Kristin de Guzman, a marketing strategist, met Hochul outside the Chambers St. stop on West Broadway on Monday, sharing that she’d voted for the governor the day before. As a small business owner, she was focused on the cost of living.
“I think she’s done a great job,” de Guzman said. “We care about the economy and affordability, like everybody on the planet.”
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