Vetted coverage of Governor Hochul's administration, grouped by day. Every item names its publication and carries a source-credibility tier — Tier 1 primary/wire, Tier 2 established outlet, Tier 3 secondary. No spin; each story links to its original source.
Marist (Oct 22-25, released Oct 28, 1,448 registered voters; LV margin of error 3.9) finds Hochul 53%, Blakeman 42%, 4% undecided among likely voters. Among registered voters Hochul leads by 14, up from 11 earlier in October. Favorability among likely voters: Hochul 41/51, Blakeman 36/42, with 19% unable to rate Blakeman.
Per the city Board of Elections as cited by FOX 5 NY (Oct 28), 300,000 people had voted across the five boroughs after four days of early voting, against 171,000 over the same stretch of the 2022 gubernatorial cycle. Early voting runs through Nov 1; Election Day is Nov 3. Turnout level alone does not say which candidate benefits.
Hochul voted Saturday and rallied in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. Blakeman rallied on Staten Island, citing high electric bills and saying Hochul approved 48 utility rate hikes, and proposed eliminating state income tax on the first $50,000 (single) and $100,000 (joint) of income. Early voting runs through Nov. 1; Election Day is Nov. 3. The article also cites a Republican-commissioned Buffalo-region survey, which is not logged as a poll.
Hochul campaigned in Brooklyn with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, stressing child care and free school meals. Blakeman, in Yorktown Heights, pledged tax cuts and expanded natural gas production to cut utility costs. Early voting continues through Nov. 1.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,167 likely voters Oct 15-19 (margin of error 3.8 points, including design effect) and released results Oct 21. Hochul 55%, Blakeman 41%, with 2% undecided and 2% refused. Quinnipiac's Sept 17-20 poll had Hochul 58%, Blakeman 39%. Blakeman leads 51-44 among independents. Primary source: poll.qu.edu release.
Per the PoliticsNY headline, the Blakeman campaign criticized Hochul over a volunteer firefighter tax relief bill that had in fact been signed two days earlier. Detail beyond the headline not independently read.
NY1 reports the Blakeman campaign is citing a fatal subway shooting in its public-safety attacks on Hochul. Detail beyond the headline not independently read.
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.
Emerson College Polling, sponsored by PIX11, surveyed 900 likely voters Oct. 3-5. Unrounded toplines were Hochul 52.41%, Blakeman 39.74%, don't know 7.85%. The Marist poll (Oct. 1-4, registered voters) had it 53-42. Margin of error was not found in accessible coverage.
FOX 5 NY's Oct. 5 election update reports Blakeman told the New York Post (Oct. 3) he would enact a statewide ban on transgender students in girls' school bathrooms and lockers if elected. The Hochul campaign's response was not captured. Relates to the open Blakeman transgender sports ban controversy.
President Trump held a midterm rally for Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, with seating for several thousand. Per CNY Central's pre-event live blog, topics expected included the ICE shooting in New York City, gas prices and international conflicts. A spokesperson for Gov. Hochul responded with a statement calling the event "a fitting farewell" to a campaign that has stayed fully aligned with Trump. Rally remarks were not available to the source at the time of the cited page; speech content is not logged here.
Announced Oct. 1 after Tompkins County DA Matthew Van Houten said on Sept. 28 that the woman never stated she was raped. Hochul cited discrepancies between his statements and the woman's account to police. Cornell said Sept. 30 it would hire outside counsel for an independent probe.
Both candidates campaigned in Erie County on Oct 5 with affordability as the shared theme. Blakeman criticized Hochul on taxes, utility costs and business climate; Hochul announced an expansion of the state free community college program and tied Blakeman to Trump tariff policy. Seneca Nation protesters appeared at a Blakeman event over gaming compact talks; Hochul said negotiations continue with no agreement. Candidates debate next week (Oct 13).
Hochul's campaign holds $18.5M and the state Democratic Party $15M, per campaign-announced pre-general figures. She did not opt into public matching. Blakeman's July report was amended repeatedly and his new-period numbers were not yet public. The state GOP held $225,500 in mid-July.
Spectrum reports the Oct. 9 Syracuse event; VIN News, citing the NY Post, says a second source indicates more upstate stops are being considered in October.
NYS Focus reports that about 10 percent of contributions Blakeman submitted for public matching were marked eligible despite problems: over 1,900 from donors outside New York (400+ from Florida and Texas) and over 500 above the $1,050 individual limit. The campaign says errors were corrected in amended reports; NYS Focus found the latest versions still include match requests for thousands of ineligible donations. Blakeman had received nearly $2M in matching funds as of July, and it is not clear whether any ineligible donations were matched. The Public Campaign Finance Board says staff audit all claims before paying and can recover funds.
State of Politics (Jack Arpey, Sept 29) compares the tax pitches. Blakeman says he would fund what he calls the largest income tax cut in state history by redirecting spending. Hochul says she has not raised income or corporate taxes and points to a $1,000 rebate for families with children under 4, $1B in energy rebates, a middle-class rebate, a property tax rebate and the NYC luxury second-home tax. Hochul campaign-announced figures: $8.5M raised in September, $18.5M cash on hand; state Democratic Party $15M.
Per the Hochul campaign, it raised over $8.5 million in September: more than $2.6 million for her reelection committee and over $5.9 million for the NYS Democratic Party. The campaign reports more than $18.5 million cash on hand, the party more than $15 million (over $33 million combined), from 17,800 individual donors with a $22.38 average online gift. These are campaign-announced totals; itemized donors and amounts will appear in the pre-general BOE filing. Blakeman comparison figures not included in the report.
A nor'easter forecast to bring 40-55 mph gusts, 15-22 ft waves on eastern Long Island, and moderate-to-major coastal flooding through Sunday. Gov. Hochul (Sept. 25) directed state agencies (DHSES, DOT, Thruway, DPS, State Police, DEC, State Parks, MTA, Port Authority) to prepare and activated enhanced monitoring at the State EOC, stopping short of a statewide emergency declaration. Separately, Nassau County Executive and GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine each signed county-level executive orders declaring states of emergency and activated their county Emergency Operations Centers. No statewide emergency declaration from Hochul as of this writing.
U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel (S.D.N.Y.) granted DOJ summary judgment on Sept. 24, 2026 in United States v. State of New York (1:25-cv-03656), permanently enjoining enforcement of the Climate Change Superfund Act. This is a second, separate ruling from the Aug. 31 decision by NDNY Chief Judge Sannes in West Virginia v. James (the 22-state suit): Castel's case is DOJ's own direct challenge, filed alongside a parallel DOJ suit against Vermont's climate-superfund law. Castel found the law preempted on two grounds: Clean Air Act preemption (monetary liability tied to greenhouse-gas emissions functions as regulation requiring uniform federal standards) and foreign-affairs preemption (the law's worldwide emissions calculations intrude on federal authority over international climate diplomacy). No sign yet of a notice of appeal in this case; the state's appeal posture in the Sannes case (Rule 54(b) request pending as of Sept. 18) is unaffected but the double defeat strengthens the case for DOJ/plaintiffs on any appeal.
In a WNYC interview Sept. 23, Hochul said she asked Ocasio-Cortez and others to campaign statewide. Ocasio-Cortez's tour opens in Buffalo. Newsweek separately reported Sept. 22 that Hochul asked Ocasio-Cortez for $300,000 for the Democrats' statewide coordinated campaign, with the money directed to field organizing and half reserved for Spanish-language outreach. That money went to the coordinated campaign, not Hochul's own committee.
Published Sept. 23 (7:50 PM ET), after the prior refresh window. Campaign stop at Middle Village Bagels in Queens. Blakeman repeated his claims that NY utility bills are 70% above the national average and that Hochul approved 48 rate hikes (campaign claims, not independently verified here). Holden said opposition to the Interborough Express and the housing that would come with it could be turned into Blakeman votes. Hochul spokesman Ryan Radulovacki: "earn your support, don't fake it." NY1 cites Independent Voter Project data: Democrats 47.6% vs. Republicans 22.6% of registered voters.
Published Sept. 16. Orange County has housed ICE detainees at its jail since 2008; DHS has 60 business days from Aug. 24 to move non-criminal detainees out. The $10M figure is the sheriff's own claim, not an audited number. FAIR's lead attorney says briefing on the injunction request is complete and the Northern District has not ruled.
The ad runs on cable, broadcast, digital and streaming through Nov. 3. It argues the moratorium on permits for large data centers will hold down utility bills and ties Blakeman to Trump over data center support.
At the Sept. 22 event formalizing the correction officers' union endorsement, Blakeman said he would use the governor's leverage to repeal HALT and rehire officers fired after the 2025 strike. Pressed, he said repeal would be a negotiation with Democratic leaders. Hochul's campaign pointed to ~$4B in public-safety spending and defended the firings.
Hochul led the Sept. 18 opening-day ribbon-cutting at the new Belmont Park in Nassau County. The 2023 budget deal she negotiated with the Legislature provided a $455M state loan for the rebuild, to be repaid by NYRA from its share of Resorts World NYC casino revenue. Hochul said the venue will generate over $155M in annual economic impact and sustain thousands of permanent jobs on Long Island; NYRA says 3,700 union workers built it in about 2.5 years. Belmont now hosts year-round racing (except the Saratoga meet), replacing the closed Aqueduct in Queens, whose site is the subject of an ongoing housing debate. Upper grandstand floors finish next spring; Breeders' Cup is scheduled there for fall 2027. Governor's economic-impact and jobs figures are the administration's own projections.
WFP state director Jasmine Gripper announced the endorsement Sept. 16 after a state committee vote; the party declined to give the tally. In February the committee chose a placeholder rather than endorse Hochul or then-LG Delgado (City & State reported Hochul drew 3% of the weighted vote, which WFP disputed). WFP leaders have said the delay gave them leverage on child care and immigration. Hochul will appear on both the Democratic and WFP lines; Blakeman holds the Republican and Conservative lines. Same day, Hochul defended the $1B POWER checks at a Flatbush YMCA stop: "I won't make New Yorkers wait for relief."
Published Sept. 14. For the second straight year Hochul is mailing checks to 8.2 million New Yorkers (income $300K or less) in the weeks before a November election; this year's POWER checks ($100-$200, about $1B) follow last fall's inflation refunds of up to $400. On Sept. 10 Hochul had posted on X that Trump's pledge of $5,000 checks if Republicans hold the House was "a trillion-dollar campaign bribe." Spokesperson Jen Goodman said there is no comparison: "Instead of bribing the American people for votes, Trump should follow the Governor's lead and deliver immediate relief." Hochul's office attributes the timing to the Department of Taxation and Finance's pause from STAR mailings in October-November. The article notes the checks originated as an Assembly proposal (up to $500 for 5.4M households at $2.6B) that Hochul's budget broadened and cheapened, that Sen. James Skoufis's 2025 bill to bar the governor's name on checks never advanced, and that Hochul's signature is not on either year's checks. Gothamist first reported the pre-election timing in late July. Useful for a fact-check on the "buying votes" claim from both directions.
Hochul's campaign announced Sept. 10 that the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council, which it says represents more than 235,000 union construction workers, endorsed her re-election. President Gary LaBarbera credited policies expanding construction jobs, housing development and energy projects; Hochul cited offshore wind off Long Island, the Gateway Tunnel, upstate semiconductor plants and housing. The membership figure and project claims come from the campaign; no vote tally or endorsement process was described. The statewide council endorsement sits against the intra-labor split logged since June, in which individual building-trades locals (e.g., Steamfitters Local 638 on Sept. 2) have gone to Blakeman. Reported Sept. 14 by Fingerlakes1; original campaign release URL not located.
Backfill (Aug 17 story, added Sept 13 after a coverage-gap check). The Post reported that Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, 79, a photographer and philanthropist and widow of New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, confirmed she plans to host a fundraiser for Bruce Blakeman. State records show she gave $1,000 to Hochul's reelection campaign in July 2025; federal filings show hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes over the past decade, including Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton. Lautenberg gave the Post a one-line explanation, personal friendship with Blakeman, and no policy reason. The fundraiser date and any dollar figure raised have not been reported; no BOE itemization tied to the event has been found as of Sept 13. Widely amplified by partisan aggregators (Western Journal, IJR, Jewish Voice), which are not used as sources here.
The state Democratic Committee's anti-Blakeman tour held its Western New York stop Saturday at the CWA Local 1168 hall in Amherst, Erie County. Speakers were Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Adrienne Adams, U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy and Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, joined by labor representatives. The tour's stated message is that Blakeman's policies would increase costs and property taxes; the Blakeman campaign's response, if any, was not found in coverage. Pre-event advisory: https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2026/09/08/adams-kennedy-and-ryan-to-launch-anti-blakeman-canvass-in-amherst/
Follow-on to the Sept. 11 dismissal. Fox News reports Solicitor General John Sauer agreed the case is moot but said the administration will look for another case to bring the same question (whether prolonged immigration detention triggers a constitutional right to a bond hearing) back to the Supreme Court. Criticism quoted is from Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan on X; no Blakeman statement was found in any outlet. Fox said it had asked Hochul's office for comment and had no reply. Reader note: Fox's framing ("torpedos") is the outlet's; the underlying facts match SCOTUSblog's Sept. 11 report.
WCNY's Dispatches from Planet Albany podcast (Sept 11) features Chapin Fay, spokesman for the Strong & Safe New York independent-expenditure committee backing Blakeman, on how the super PAC is trying to close Hochul's fundraising gap with billboards and independent spending. The episode also covers Blakeman's message discipline, his reluctance to lean into pro-choice positioning, and the Republican-aligned McLaughlin poll. No new donor names or totals were disclosed in the episode page; the PAC's identified funders remain the Dolan/MSG money surfaced in August.
Since Hochul signed the 287(g) ban in May, the Rensselaer County Legislature has not taken up a single item on Sheriff Kyle Bourgault's ICE agreement, and Democratic Legislator Ken Zalewski says that is unlikely to change: "everyone's just going to let it play out in a court of law." About 95 people attended the monthly public forum, a record, many urging Bourgault to end the agreement; County Executive Steve McLaughlin (R) defended it. Any resolution would be non-binding and would need every Democrat plus two Republicans. Rensselaer is one of the 15 sheriff's offices suing the state in federal court (Bourgault v. Hochul); the AG has a parallel state-court suit to terminate the agreement.
At the Tuesday, Sept. 8 North Hempstead Town Board meeting, Muslim residents asked officials to condemn Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's social-media post captioned "Hijab Hochul. Kathy's Latest Costume: Whatever the Audience Wants," saying it was hurtful and fed Islamophobia. Resident Ali Mohamed asked the board's Republicans to sign a letter condemning the post; Council Members Robert Troiano Jr., Christine Liu and Mariann Dalimonte had signed the letter Troiano drafted. Speakers pressed Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and Council Members Dennis Walsh, Edward Scott and Yaron Levy, who had not signed, to add their names. Per Long Island Press, Sept. 9. The controversy row "Headscarf backlash and the 9/11 25th-anniversary commemoration" remains active.
The NYS Democratic Committee announced a Sept. 12 noon canvass launch in Amherst as part of its statewide "The Cost of Bruce Blakeman" tour. Listed participants: LG nominee Adrienne Adams, Rep. Tim Kennedy, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, WNY AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation president Denise Abbott and NYS AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Rev. Terrance Melvin Sr. The party's framing: Blakeman's policies would raise costs and property taxes, plus criticism of his armed provisional-deputy program and 287(g) cooperation. The advisory is paid for by the state committee and says it was not authorized by any candidate committee, which keeps the spending off the Hochul campaign's books. No Blakeman response in the advisory. Location released only to credentialed press.
Sept. 3: The headscarf fight moved to a third round. After Blakeman's Sept. 1 post ("Hijab Hochul. Kathy's Latest Costume: Whatever the Audience Wants"), Hochul called the attack "reprehensible." Blakeman did not back off: in a statement invoking his nephew Tommy (state court officer Thomas Jurgens), killed on 9/11 while giving first aid to a burned woman, he said Hochul "has aligned yourself with Zohran Mamdani who won't speak against 'Global Intifada' which was the goal of his murderers." The Post noted Blakeman himself wore a head covering at a Sikh event last year. Hochul's office again cited the 2022 Ronkonkoma mosque visit and Officer Didarul Islam's funeral as precedent. This is the first time either side has used "reprehensible"; it follows Hochul's Sept. 2 on-camera answer ("says more about him") and her X reply to Trump. Logged Sept. 5 (missed Sept. 3-4 runs).
In a Sept. 1 video interview with JNS (published Sept. 1, 9:12pm), Blakeman said that as governor he would tell Mayor Zohran Mamdani to stop making what he called "virulent antisemitic comments" and, if he did not, "take action against him, which the governor has the power to do." He said that during the 2024 Columbia encampment he "would have told the mayor to take control of the situation or I would." The interview also covers his personal religious observance: a kosher kitchen, Shabbat services roughly twice a month at the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach, and his wife Segal Magori Blakeman's role in that shift. Blakeman did not specify which gubernatorial power he would use against a sitting mayor; state law provides a removal process under Public Officers Law §33 but it has never been used against a NYC mayor. Fits the established pattern (JTA June 1; Crown Heights July 15) of Blakeman framing the race around Mamdani.
Sept. 3 (7:18pm): hundreds of passed bills await Hochul's signature or veto, and sponsors of AI and big-tech measures argue the usual year-end wait is costlier when the technology changes daily. Sen. Michelle Hinchey wanted Hochul to sign by Labor Day a bipartisan bill requiring businesses to report to the Department of Labor how AI is displacing workers, cutting hours, creating jobs or leaving positions unfilled; Upstate United's Justin Wilcox backs it as "gather the data first." Sen. Kristen Gonzalez is touring the state pushing the data-center package (including a statutory one-year moratorium) that Hochul partially pre-empted with her July executive order. Hochul's office points to her AI commission and the EO. Blakeman says he opposes a moratorium and that the administration should already have written data-center regulations. Watch: the bill-action calendar runs through December.
Sept 3 release: the 28 GIVE police departments reported 29,654 index crimes Jan–May 2026 (down 7% from 31,752), 4,617 violent crimes (down 1%), 41 murders (down 48%), 830 robberies (down 17%), property crime down 8%. Eleven departments posted double-digit index-crime drops (Elmira, Greece, Hempstead, Jamestown, Kingston, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Spring Valley, Suffolk County, Utica). NYC June 1–Aug 31: 195 shooting incidents, 249 victims, 66 murders, each an NYPD record low for the period; August major crime down 6.6% (10,276 vs 11,000). Context: this is the fourth crime-stats release since Aug 14 as public safety becomes the campaign's central argument; the GIVE data covers only through May and only the 28 participating upstate/suburban departments, not statewide totals. Underlying DCJS table: governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2026-09/GIVE_Agencies_Index_Crime_Data_Jan.May_2017.2026.pdf.
For International Overdose Awareness Day (Aug 31), Hochul announced overdose deaths fell roughly 45% statewide since 2022 — CDC provisional data show predicted deaths dropping from 6,630+ in 2022 (~18/day) to 3,775 in 2025 (~10/day) — and directed 16 landmarks including 1WTC and Niagara Falls to be lit purple. The figures repeat the CDC provisional numbers her office first highlighted May 21; the new elements are the awareness-day framing and illuminations. Release cites ~$500M in opioid settlement funds deployed, 1.4M+ naloxone kits shipped since Aug 2022, and 28M+ fentanyl/xylazine test strips distributed.
Aug 31 announcement of $20M for community-based organizations providing youth services and support in 10 communities statewide. Details per the governor's release as republished by LongIsland.com; recipient list and funding mechanism to be confirmed against the full release.
Aug 31 announcement making $75M available through the NY BRICKS program for municipal and nonprofit community centers, branded under her "Unplug and Play" youth initiative. Details per the governor's release as republished by LongIsland.com.
In a one-on-one with Melissa Russo (aired Aug. 28), Hochul discussed Blakeman and Trump's Lake Ontario renaming order. Accountability context for the tracker: NBC frames the $36M victim-services announcement as coming AFTER News 4 reported unexpected cuts that jeopardized services for crime victims and sexual assault survivors, including children — i.e., the funding restored money to programs already disrupted, rather than expanding them unprompted.
NY1's week recap adds two stops not previously logged: Hochul headlined the opening of a campaign office in Jamaica, Queens, telling Democrats Blakeman "supports the cuts in Medicaid" and "data centers in every single community," while Blakeman campaigned at the State Fair Friday saying Hochul is "not backing our farmers" and calling New York "the most overtaxed state in America." Marist's Lee Miringoff frames Blakeman's Trump tightrope and Hochul's downstate-governor burden. Hochul spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika responded to Blakeman's "computer" ad: "The Governor misspoke, immediately apologized, and got back to work."
Campaigning with Onondaga County Republicans Friday, Blakeman called Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" "fun" and "not a serious thing," and declined to discuss the economic impact of the 50% Canada tariffs ("I can't say what's going on in Washington"). Republican Sen. George Borrello broke with him, calling the rename a distraction from trade issues and disrespectful of Indigenous naming; Hochul countered that a trade war with Canada means higher prices, and Gillibrand said Trump should focus on grocery costs.
DEC and EPA's Aug 24 progress report on the Niagara-Erie radiological assessment: signed access agreements grew from a handful to nearly 1,030 in a month; 726 properties screened since Jul 23; more than 475 owners notified that no further investigation is needed; 30 properties referred to EPA for additional investigation; 4 recommended for voluntary relocation. A new NECRA helpline (844-612-8144) launched Aug 24. The agencies say the vast majority of screened properties will need no further action.
The Blakeman campaign launched a digital ad campaign Aug 26 targeting Hochul over her May 2024 Milken Institute remark that "young Black kids growing up in the Bronx ... don't even know what the word computer is" — a comment she said the same day she regretted ("I misspoke"). The campaign characterized the remark as a racial stereotype and said video and related material would run across major social platforms immediately. The release did not disclose the ad spend or how long the ads will run.
Friends for Kathy Hochul issued a statement on Aug 25 attacking Blakeman for backing Trump's tariffs, arguing the 50% tariff on Canadian goods raises consumer costs and hurts the state economy, and comparing the policy to Depression-era protectionism. Spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki called Blakeman one of Trump's strongest tariff supporters. The release carried no response from Blakeman or the administration. This is a campaign statement, not an independent finding.
Campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki credited Hochul with stronger gun laws, medical-debt protections, and inflation and energy rebate checks. The campaign claims more than 10,000 illegal guns taken off New York streets and nearly $4 billion in public safety spending since 2021. The claims are campaign figures, not independently verified here. The release included no response from Blakeman.
Published Aug 21, 7:38 a.m. ET. City and state lawmakers, including Senate sponsor Michelle Hinchey, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Buffalo Council Member Mitchell Nowakowski, called on Hochul to sign the Good Food NY bill, which passed both houses this session. It would raise the amount public institutions — school cafeterias, hospitals, senior centers — can spend buying from qualified in-state food vendors. Sponsors cite roughly 160,000 agriculture jobs statewide and a nearly 14 percent loss of New York farms over the past decade. The bill is awaiting the Governor's action; no signature or veto as of this run, so no legislation row was created.
Hochul announced a NY LOVES CANADA promotion on the I LOVE NY site offering Canadian visitors discounts on lodging and attractions, most running through August and September and some through December, with savings pitched as offsetting the exchange rate. The state says Canadian visitation fell more than 26 percent in 2025. The announcement landed as Canada faced a U.S. deadline to accept trade terms or face a 50 percent tariff on roughly 20 percent of its exports.
Blakeman spoke for nearly 30 minutes to more than 120 people at the Avon Inn on Monday evening (reported Aug 19), hosted by the Livingston County Republican Committee alongside Rep. Claudia Tenney, Sen. Pamela Helming and Assemblywoman Andrea Bailey. He tied Hochul to Mayor Mamdani ("Comrade Kathy"), called New York 50th of 50 in economic outlook and "the most overtaxed state," said electric bills run 70 percent above the national average because of a "green energy scam," and called the ban on extracting Southern Tier natural gas "a crime," recounting Trump telling him "drill, baby, drill." He also criticized cashless bail, sanctuary policies, and S.9316's gender-neutral parentage language. The reporter noted Blakeman never used the word "affordable" though it was printed on his podium sign.
At an Aug 16 GLOW-region stop at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Ag Education Center in Batavia (reported Aug 19), Blakeman called utility-scale solar on farmland "a total scam," alleging out-of-state and foreign developers collect subsidies while donating to Hochul, and said New York should extract its own natural gas reserves instead. He also claimed New York electric bills run 70 percent above the national average across 48 rate increases under Hochul, and that the state spends about $8 billion on services for people in the country illegally, roughly $81,000 per person. Both figures are fact-checked separately. He pledged not to forget upstate regions and pointed to his 12-point 2025 Nassau reelection in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 110,000.
Blakeman made two Orleans County stops on Sunday, Aug 16, with Assemblyman Steve Hawley and running mate Todd Hood, the Madison County sheriff, attacking Hochul on taxes, utility bills and what he called socialist policy. Hood's own sheriff's office dropped its 287(g) ICE agreement two days later.
Hochul announced construction is underway on a $24.5 million project replacing two 59-year-old bridges on the ramp from I-84 westbound to I-684 southbound in the Town of Southeast, Putnam County. The replacements add shoulder width for emergency vehicles to meet federal safety standards and raise clearance to 16 feet 6 inches to reduce bridge strikes.
At an Aug 13 beam signing in Fredonia, Hochul marked progress on the $223M, 132,000-sq-ft Northern Chautauqua Hospital, funded in part with $124M from New York State and expected to open in 2029, replacing the aging Brooks Memorial Hospital. She said the project protects roughly 300 jobs and framed it against federal healthcare cuts, warning that Washington is "gutting" New York healthcare — a healthcare-vs-Washington contrast she is carrying into the campaign.
A day after Siena's first likely-voter poll put Hochul ahead 49-39, Blakeman rejected the result, saying "all of the polls we have seen in the last two months have us virtually tied with Kathy Hochul" and hitting Hochul on taxes, electric bills and crime. No public poll in that window shows a tie; the closest, a Red Oak Strategic poll commissioned by the pro-Blakeman Strong and Safe super PAC, showed Hochul up 4.
Both candidates worked NYC on Aug 11. At Grand Street Settlement on the Lower East Side, Hochul urged eligible families to apply for the $120-per-child Summer EBT food benefit before its Sept 8 deadline. Blakeman met business leaders in Flushing, Queens, and previewed Trump's Friday Nassau visit, saying the president "wants to honor our police officers, our deputy sheriffs, our corrections officers." Under three months to Election Day.
Blakeman appeared on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures (Aug 9), arguing Hochul has made a "far-left pivot," comparing New York's budget unfavorably with Florida's, and pointing to progressive influence in state politics. A national Sunday-show hit aimed at Republican donors and base voters; no new policy proposals were announced.
Hochul signed S.10113/A.11217 (now Chapter 207 of the Laws of 2026) on Aug 6, letting licensed cannabis microbusinesses fully participate in Cannabis Showcase Events — pop-ups, farmers markets, and public market events — without needing to partner with standalone cultivators or processors. Effective immediately. Licensed dispensaries reported nearly $1.7B in 2025 sales, up from ~$900M in 2024.
All four CSEA bargaining units ratified five-year labor agreements announced Aug 6, covering more than 55,000 state employees through April 1, 2031. Terms include raises, boosts to location pay and unit-specific payments, 20 hours of paid prenatal leave, a higher sick-leave accumulation cap, and health insurance changes reducing co-pays and out-of-network costs. Relevant to the intra-labor split over Hochul's union record.
Campaigning in Albany Aug. 5, Blakeman attacked the state's lawsuit against prediction-market platform Kalshi, arguing Hochul should have accepted a proposed settlement — a 6% tax on prediction-market trades that, per Wall Street Journal reporting cited by Blakeman, could have generated $10B over five years. He called the suit hypocritical given last year's casino approvals and framed prediction markets as personal choice. Hochul's office responded that Kalshi "blatantly violated state law," put consumers including minors at risk, and that "weak attempts to self-regulate are meaningless." The suit seeks fines and restitution that could total $36B.
Hochul toured Lake Placid's Olympic Museum and facilities Monday, Aug. 3, promoting a possible bid to host the 2042 Winter Games. She created an Olympic exploratory committee last month to study a joint bid: indoor ice events in New York City arenas, mountain and sliding sports on Lake Placid's existing 1980-era infrastructure.
Backfill: coverage of Blakeman's Jul 18 Central NY swing (Van Buren, Onondaga County) finally surfaced via syracuse.com (published Jul 20, syndicated via TNS). Blakeman said data centers "could bring jobs and lower energy costs" if developers build their own power generation and water recirculation systems, and attacked Hochul's statewide data-center moratorium: "Waving the white flag, as Kathy Hochul has done, is the reason why we're No. 50 in economic outlook in the whole United States of America." He also pledged to lift New York's hydraulic-fracturing ban, called the state's clean-energy policies a "green energy scam," and said Trump told him to "drill, baby, drill." Campaigned alongside LG candidate Todd Hood and NY-22 challenger Kailee Buller. This is the first on-record Blakeman counter-position to EO 62 and the first explicit fracking-ban repeal pledge of the campaign.
Blakeman was barred from speaking at the Dominican Day Parade, with organizers citing his representation of Trump's agenda, per the NY Post (Jul 27). Backfilled from prior window: the incident became one of the two examples Blakeman's campaign cites as evidence of Democratic "cheating" in the governor's race.
Speaking Sunday Jul 26 at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, Hochul praised Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and — after briefly misspeaking "AG" for "DA" — said he could one day become U.S. attorney general. Blakeman called Bragg "the most soft-on-crime DA in the state," saying under him "violent offenders get charges knocked down" and "repeat criminals walk free." Hochul's team stood by the remarks. Bragg prosecuted the Trump hush-money case; crime framing is central to Blakeman's campaign.
In a Sunday X post with video, Blakeman claimed Hochul and NYC Mayor Mamdani "want to increase the number of people subject to an inheritance tax," arguing family farms, businesses and homes would have to be sold to pay it, and pledged to "stop it" as governor. The post does not cite a specific Hochul proposal; New York levies an estate tax (not an inheritance tax), and no current Hochul proposal to expand it was identified in the article or accessible reporting.
Announced July 25: the state launched a website connecting New Yorkers to vetted relief organizations (Hispanic Federation, Aid for LIFE, Casa de Venezuela Orlando, World Central Kitchen) for Venezuelan earthquake recovery, plus tips for avoiding donation scams. Venezuela's toll has passed 5,000 deaths and 16,000 injured. New York has one of the largest Venezuelan communities in the U.S.
A Jul 23 NYSOP analysis frames the race around the FY2028 budget: phased-in federal H.R. 1 changes will hit Medicaid eligibility (recertification burdens; ~400,000 already dropped from the expanded Essential Plan) and shift SNAP costs to the state. Hochul told Spectrum her strategy is trimming "bloated" Medicaid spending, claiming the CDPAP transition "saved over two billion dollars." Blakeman: "We don't have a revenue problem... we have a spending problem," pledging to cut fraud, taxes and utility bills. CBC's Andrew Rein warned vague cuts won't solve out-year gaps; FPI's Emily Eisner said new revenue would be required to shore up coverage. Neither candidate backs income-tax hikes.
Hochul announced (Jul 23) that the Office of Mental Health has posted public data and plain-language infographics covering 23 areas of the mental-health continuum — access to care, prevention/youth services, crisis services, specialized services — tracking programs funded by her $1B mental-health initiative and later budgets. OMH says it will update the infographics periodically. Note: this is the state's own self-reported accounting of the $1B promise (tracked in-progress), released mid-campaign; the dashboard is at omh.ny.gov. The release also re-cites Mental Health America ranking NY first nationally and its 2026 Governor's Leadership Award.
Blakeman called the state's all-electric mandate for most new buildings "unscientific" and "unaffordable," arguing it raises housing costs and that the grid can't handle the added demand, and pledged to reverse the natural-gas restrictions if elected. The law, phasing in over the coming years under the CLCPA framework Hochul backs, targets one of the state's largest emissions sources. The vow puts the in-progress All-Electric Buildings Act promise squarely on the November ballot, alongside his earlier pledges to rescind the data-center moratorium and cap-and-invest.
Hochul announced the official opening of the MTA's new Yaphank-BNL LIRR station in Suffolk County on July 17, with first scheduled trains July 18 (5:36am to Greenport, 8:02am to Ronkonkoma). It is the first new LIRR station since Elmont-UBS in 2021 and only the second in fifty years, serving Brookhaven National Laboratory with a 50-car lot, bus loop, and bike racks. A concrete transit delivery on Long Island — Blakeman's home region — alongside an LIRR study of East End service upgrades.
Blakeman escalated his opposition to EO 62 from criticism to a concrete campaign pledge: he would rescind the one-year hyperscale data-center moratorium, calling it "crazy" and arguing data centers keep New York competitive in the AI race. He says local governments should be free to strike their own deals with tech companies. Trump also attacked the order on Truth Social this week, making the moratorium an early general-election fault line.
A day after Hochul's EO 62 moratorium on hyperscale data centers, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the order does not signal a veto of the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which covers projects above 20 MW (vs. the EO's 50 MW) and adds rate classes and public hearings. Hochul has until year-end to sign, veto, or seek amendments.
Hochul joined governors of several states asking USPS to withdraw a proposed rule implementing a Trump executive order on voter lists and mail ballots; a federal judge had already blocked the underlying order.
Hochul directed 17 state landmarks illuminated for the July 4 250th anniversary and issued an Independence Day proclamation.
The PSC opened a proceeding toward up to 4 GW of new advanced nuclear power, advancing a State of the State pledge.
NY reported 8 GW of installed distributed solar, ahead of schedule toward a 10 GW by 2030 goal, tied to ~$12.2B private investment.
A five-year labor agreement covering ~42,000 United University Professions employees was reached, running through July 1, 2031.
Hochul appointed Alexander Dockery — whose sentence she commuted — to a corrections-oversight role; Blakeman used it as an attack line.
A one-year pause on permits for new data centers drawing 20+ MW passed as part of the session's energy package.
Hochul rolled out utility-cost relief as Republicans attack NY energy prices, which run well above the national average.
The state reported its highest single-year affordable-housing production under Hochul's five-year plan.
In her election-year address, Hochul proposed energy-bill relief, a tip-income tax exemption, child care expansion, and housing investment.
Under a 2023 deal, the minimum wage rose to $17 downstate and $16 upstate, to be indexed to inflation from 2027.
The state mailed inflation refund checks of up to $400 to 8.2 million households.
Hochul announced 2025 subway crime trending to multi-decade lows, citing added police, National Guard, and platform barriers.