Hochul hits the campaign trail

Gov. Kathy Hochul was in full campaign mode during the final weekend of early voting, stumping for candidates across the state. She ended the statewide tour in New York City, appearing with Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Sunday afternoon and beginning Monday morning by encouraging voters to support four housing-related ballot proposals.

After a weekend of getting out the vote for candidates, Hochul’s closing message to voters in Manhattan’s Upper East Side was to vote in favor of four out of the six ballot proposals that are meant to fast-track affordable housing construction by cutting out much of the City Council’s role. They have broad support from pro-housing groups and a variety of officials, but unsurprisingly has faced opposition from the City Council.

“I'm all about taking down the barriers so we can start building so young people you see here today have a chance of having an affordable future in New York City,” Hochul told reporters after speaking to voters with city Comptroller Brad Lander and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. The governor has made housing a cornerstone of her first term in office, which she highlighted when speaking about the ballot proposals.

Asked about another proposal that she was not explicitly campaigning for, which would pave the way for even-year elections in the city, Hochul expressed support for it as well. “I want to increase the turnout, which happens in gubernatorial and presidential years, which are the even years,” she said. “I know what I have to do, and getting the elections aligned in a way that's beneficial is what I’m going to continue fighting for.” A 2023 law shifted most municipal races outside of the city to even years. Republicans failed to overturn the law in state court, but recently filed a new federal lawsuit challenging it.

But Hochul didn’t weigh in on the fact that Mamdani, her endorsed candidate, has so far refused to take  a position on any of the proposals. “There's going to be 1,000 issues that come up, and I think you ought to ask the candidates how they feel about them,” she told reporters, adding that she hasn’t even discussed the proposals with Mamdani yet. The mayoral front-runner has faced criticism over his silence on the pro-housing ballot measures, especially given his campaign’s focus on housing affordability.

That didn’t stop Hochul from appearing with Mamdani Sunday evening to watch the Bills game at Astoria’s Bills Mafia bar Murphy’s. It’s a significant shift for the governor, who took months to endorse Mamdani after he won the Democratic primary. Between the moderate Hochul and socialist Mamdani, the pair make for an odd political couple. That was apparent when the governor took the stage with Mamdani at a large, presidential campaign-style rally last weekend – and the progressive crowd met her with chants of “tax the rich,” a policy proposal Hochul has consistently opposed.

Hochul started her tour in support of Democratic candidates in her home of Buffalo on Saturday, where state Sen. Sean Ryan is running for mayor. “This is where you're really doing the elections that put people in the positions of (where) the government meets the road,” Hochul told reporters in Buffalo. “The real local problems you take care of.” 

The governor made her way east to Rochester next, attending a rally hosted by the Monroe County Democratic Committee. There, she emphasized the importance of “making history” by flipping three county legislature seats to give Democrats control of the body. She finished Saturday with trips to Syracuse and Albany to get out the vote for the mayoral candidates in both cities.