Hochul Makes Final Campaign Push Ahead of Tuesday's Governor's Race

Governor Kathy Hochul wrapped up her campaign with a Friday morning stop outside Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal, greeting commuters and posing for photographs as she urged voters to turn out on Tuesday. Hochul, who faces Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has built her reelection campaign around affordability — pointing to $1 billion in energy rebate checks of $100 to $200 per eligible household, middle-class tax cuts, new housing initiatives and expanding universal child care in partnership with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

A Siena poll released October 28 showed Hochul leading Blakeman 54% to 40% among likely voters, up from a nine-point advantage in September. Even so, the governor said she was not letting up. "I'm in my 16th election, and I take every election seriously," she said Thursday. "I don't stop until the polls close at 9 o'clock on Tuesday."

Hochul said she was encouraged by high early voter turnout and was particularly focused on improving her showing on Long Island, where she lost Suffolk County by roughly 17 percentage points to Republican Lee Zeldin in 2022.

Looking ahead to a potential second term, Hochul outlined priorities including securing New York's energy supply, accelerating housing construction, advancing the Interborough Express connecting Brooklyn and Queens, and upgrading Penn Station. She also highlighted the city's expanding 2-K child care program, which launched with roughly 2,000 seats this fall and is set to add 10,000 more in September 2027.

Not every voter encountered Friday was fully convinced. A halal cart worker named Alam, who agreed to display a Hochul campaign poster at the campaign's request, told reporters he was nonetheless leaning toward voting for Blakeman.