Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said Thursday that he welcomes Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to campaign alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling the pairing a “big boost” to his own campaign for governor.
“I think that the more Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani campaign together the more likely it is that I will have not only a victory but a very very astounding victory,” Blakeman said while accepting the endorsement of former Bronx Democratic Councilman and Assemblyman Steve Kaufman outside the Crosstown Diner.
Hochul, who is running for a second four-year term, is expected to appear with Mamdani on Friday, just ahead of the start of early voting before the November 3 election.
“Zohran Mamdani has attacked me. The more he attacks me, the more Democrats who come over to support me. The more independent voters who come over to support me,” Blakeman said. “So I just hope Zohran Mamdani is real active for the next 11 days with Kathy Hochul campaigning together all around the state. I think it’s a big boost to my campaign.”
“Thank you to both of them for appearing together. Keep doing it!” Blakeman added, pumping his fist.
Political strategists note that Mamdani’s popularity in New York City, where recent surveys show him well-regarded, could help Hochul drive turnout in the city, which she needs to win re-election statewide.
The Hochul campaign pointed to remarks made to Politico by Chapin Fay, a Republican strategist who works for the pro-Blakeman Strong and Safe New York Super PAC, who said after Mamdani met with President Trump at Gracie Mansion last month that “Mamdani is one of the most popular politicians on planet earth right now.” Trump’s friendlier posture toward Mamdani has complicated Republican attempts to cast the mayor as a political villain.
Mamdani’s campaign, for its part, pointed to a Quinnipiac University poll showing Hochul leading Blakeman 55% to 41%, a 14-point margin. Blakeman dismissed the survey as “another phony poll” that undercounts his support, citing Republican internal polling that puts Hochul’s lead at just 4 points.
A moderate Democrat’s break
Kaufman, who described himself as a moderate, said he is backing Blakeman because he believes the Democratic Party has moved too far left.
“If Bruce does not get elected the acceleration of decline and fall of New York City and New York state will become like a downward slide. The Democratic party, I’m sad to say, has been a house of horrors. A house of hatred,” Kaufman said.
“There’s no room for moderate people and moderation within its ranks,” he continued. “This is something we all have to repudiate whether you’re Republican, conservative or Democrat. We have to yank our civilization back to the middle. The Democratic party has become the Socialist Communist Party of America and it breaks my heart to see that.”
Kaufman also criticized Hochul for opposing natural gas drilling while utility bills rise across the state. “They had billions upon billions of dollars for illegal aliens but not for the average person living here,” he said.
Crosstown Diner owner Billy Tsibidis, 47, said his electric bill runs $15,000 a month. “We have to sell well over 1,000 burgers just to pay our utility bill,” he said. “Kathy Hochul and the state, man they are killing us here in New York. It’s crazy! They’re anti-business! It’s almost like they’re trying to drive all the little businesses out of the state. I don’t get it.”
Kaufman also referenced a comment Hochul made two years ago suggesting Black children from the Bronx don’t know what computers are, saying: “This is your governor! She’s an idiot!”
