Correction officers' union NYSCOPBA endorses Blakeman 1,370-78, its first statewide endorsement ever, citing the 2025 prison strike firings and staffing crisis

NYSCOPBA president Chris Summers announced the membership vote (94.6% for Blakeman), the union's first endorsement in a statewide race. Grievances trace to the 22-day wildcat strike of Feb-Mar 2025, after which Hochul fired roughly 2,000 officers who defied a Taylor Law back-to-work order; National Guard troops remain in dozens of prisons at a cost reported above $1B. Blakeman has pledged to rehire the fired officers and repeal the HALT solitary-confinement law; the Taylor Law framework Hochul used makes the legal path to reinstatement unclear. The union also backed Republican Saritha Komatireddy for AG and Democrat Tom DiNapoli for comptroller. Adds to the intra-labor split: TWU opposed Hochul's AFL-CIO endorsement while building trades, firefighters and public-employee unions have lined up behind her.