Blakeman holds up a jar of peanuts at a Howard Beach presser and calls Hochul's $200 POWER checks "a big election year scam," claiming utility rates rose 48 times and 50% on her watch; he pledges to cut energy bills in half and "open up" the state's natural-gas supply. Hochul campaign: "100% MAGA" Blakeman "opposes every dollar" she returns to families
Blakeman's counter-message to the week's $1B POWER rebate rollout: at a Howard Beach press conference he called the up-to-$200 checks "peanuts" and "a shell game," said Hochul "thinks we're stupid" and is "trying to buy our votes," and repeated his claim of 48 rate hikes and a 50% ($700-$1,000 per resident) increase since she took office. He said only 30% of a bill pays for electricity usage and criticized upstate wind and solar spending. New pledges on record: cut residents' energy bills in half and expand natural-gas supply. Blakeman's 48-hike and 50% figures are his campaign's numbers and are not independently verified here; Hochul's office puts state utility-bill relief since 2021 at $6.6B plus the $1B checks. The Hochul campaign responded by tying Blakeman to Trump-era gas prices and saying he opposes tariff relief, car-insurance cuts and universal child care.