After months of attacks on the campaign trail, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman are set to face off Tuesday, Oct. 13, in their first and only scheduled debate in the race for New York governor.
The debate comes as two new polls show Hochul leading Blakeman. A Marist University poll puts her ahead by 11 percentage points, while an Emerson College poll gives her a 12-point lead.
Hochul has repeatedly sought to tie Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, to President Donald Trump, his most prominent supporter. Blakeman, meanwhile, has focused on taxes, utility costs and the state’s immigration policies as he tries to appeal to voters beyond the Republican base.
“Those who are supportive of an individual who Donald Trump himself has called 100% MAGA have seen the writing on the wall,” Hochul told reporters this week during a press conference held with the MTA.
“I’m not paying attention to any individual polls,” she added.
Separately, on the campaign trail in the Hudson Valley, Blakeman slammed his opponent’s federal immigration stance.
“I had to tell our police and sheriffs that they could no longer cooperate with ICE because of Kathy Hochul,” he said, of the state’s recently passed anti-ICE legislation.
At a campaign stop in Buffalo on Oct. 5, Blakeman accused Hochul of avoiding questions about her record.
“Kathy Hochul wants to talk about anything but her record,” he said.
Hochul defended her time in office, pointing to tax relief.
“We returned $10 billion back in taxes back to New Yorkers just in the five years I’ve been governor. So I’ll put my record up to anybody’s, anytime,” she said that day.
The governor continues to tie Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, to his most prominent supporter, President Donald Trump, whose approval ratings continue to plummet in New York.
For a Democrat, Hochul navigated a decent relationship with the president. But Thursday, she revealed she spoke to Trump about the ICE-involved shooting in Manhattan, demanding the administration pull back enforcement agents and release body camera footage of the incident.
“As outraged New Yorkers saw Donald Trump’s untrained ICE agents fire into a vehicle with a child inside, Bruce Blakeman isn’t only running the most pro-ICE ticket in America,” Hochul campaign spokesman Matthew Jansen said in a statement to NY1.
“On the debate stage Tuesday, voters will be seeing a clear contrast between ‘MAGA all the way’ Blakeman and Governor Hochul standing up for working families,” the statement continued.
Blakeman appeared with Trump for the second time since August, in Syracuse Friday at a campaign rally.
“The people of New York need to clean house Nov. 3, starting with Kathy Hochul,” said Trump.
“I’ll tell you what, Bruce Blakeman will get your act together,” he added.
He’s blamed Hochul for high prices.
“All she talks about is Trump, Trump, Trump. First of all, Trump didn’t make us the highest taxed state, Kathy Hochul did. Our utility bills are 70% higher than the national average, Kathy Hochul did that,” he said during a press conference in Buffalo.
He’s also trying to sell himself as a Republican appealing to Democrats.
“Every day another Democrat comes up to me and says, ‘Bruce, I’m a lifelong Democrat, I’ve never voted Republcan before. This year, I’m voting for you,'” said Blakeman, taking the stage with Trump Friday.
Both are keen on how midterm elections will play into their contest.
Making stops in battleground districts with top national figures.
“There have been no atrocities committed by ICE in New York state. In my county, because we cooperated with ICE, we removed 2,000 illegal migrants with criminal records,” Blakeman said during a pres conference Oct. 6 with Rep. Mike Lawler
On fundraising, Blakeman is behind — although qualifying for taxpayer-funded campaign dollars.
He’s reporting less than $180,000 in coffers.
Hochul, meanwhile, has over $19 million in campaign cash, according to the latest filing.
“There’s not a lot of time other than to let people know that we’re out there campaigning hard. I will be campaigning with — any individual — the mayor has offered his help, Congresswoman [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez has offered her help,” said Hochul at a separate event.
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
