amNYTier 2
Hochul campaign releases ad featuring Mayor Mamdani calling Blakeman a "bad apple"; Blakeman responds on child care, taxes and transit fares
On Oct. 15 the Hochul campaign released a roughly one-minute video in which Mayor Zohran Mamdani cuts together Blakeman clips on Medicaid, child care and ICE. The ad includes a Blakeman clip saying "We make sure we cut Medicaid in half"; the article notes that at the Oct. 13 debate Blakeman said, "I never said that I would cut Medicaid in half." Blakeman responded that he supports universal child care for working parents and criticized Hochul and Mamdani on taxes, utility costs and transit fares. amNY attributes the video to the Hochul campaign and does not name a paying committee.
Related fact-checks
Blakeman says he will cut utility rates in half by signing an "emergency order" lifting New York's fracking banMostly False"There were no deaths at the hands of ICE in Nassau County." — Bruce Blakeman, Capital Tonight, Aug 26, 2026Half True"Our electric bills are 70% higher than the national average." — Bruce Blakeman, Livingston County GOP rally, Avon, reported Aug 19, 2026Half True
More on campaign
NY Post (via AOL) / TicketNews · Oct 17, 2026Pro-Blakeman super PAC Strong and Safe New York reports three more $1M transfers, $3M from MSG Sports and Sphere Entertainment, per Board of Elections records cited by the NY PostNew York Focus · Oct 17, 2026New York Democrats ask state election-enforcement unit to investigate Blakeman campaign finance reports; Focus says campaign sought matching funds on 2,600+ ineligible donations worth up to $860KNBC New York · Oct 14, 2026Hochul and Blakeman meet in their only debate: ICE shooting in the Bronx, utility costs, crime statistics and Trump dominate; NBC New York reports no fact-checks of the claims tradedWIRED (via DNYUZ) · Oct 12, 2026WIRED: Dolan family gave $108K to Blakeman and $970K to Nassau GOP; MSG entities put $2M into Strong and Safe New York, which has raised $5.3M
Source: amNY · Oct 17, 2026 · Credibility Tier 2 · Permalink https://reviewhochul.com/news/hochul-mamdani-bad-apple-ad-2026-10-15
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