Hochul has $20 million war chest as she campaigns for reelection

Both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado headed into election year with strong fundraising numbers, though new contribution limits placed the incumbent governor slightly lower than where she started in 2022 and the promise of matching funds could make her lieutenant the most formidable Democratic primary challenger in years.

Continuing her impressive pace of fundraising, Hochul reported raising over $5.4 million in the second half of 2025. That leaves her with $20 million in her war chest as her reelection truly kicks into high gear. Like her first race for governor in 2022, Hochul faces both a Democratic primary challenge in June – though this time from only one opponent – and a general election challenge from a Republican nominee, likely Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, in November. And like four years ago, she entered 2026 with tens of millions to spend. 

Nothing has compared to those first several months after Hochul ascended to the position of governor in 2021. Just from August until the end of the year, she raised an astounding $21.6 million. She started the filing period with under $2 million in the bank and ended it with over $21 million. Hochul hasn’t been able to replicate that frankly unbelievable haul, and the prospect got even less likely once 2023 rolled around and new contribution limits took effect. In her first race, individuals were limited to contributing $69,000; now, the maximum individual contribution is just $18,000. Still, $5.4 million is nothing to sneeze at, leaving her with the same amount of cash to spend against fewer opponents. 

Meanwhile, Delgado had better fundraising numbers than any progressive Democratic challenger of the past three elections (Rep. Tom Suozzi raised significantly more, but ran to Hochul’s right in 2022 and ultimately came in third). Delgado reported $1.2 million raised in the second half of 2025. Delgado’s campaign reports over $4 million raised for the cycle so far, though only around $2-2.5 million of that came after he announced his candidacy. The rest came in prior years when he was still officially Hochul’s running mate. But unlike past candidates, Delgado will also have access to millions in public matching funds in the first statewide election cycle since the program began in 2023.

At the same time, Delgado brought in a little less than he reported in July at a time when fundraising totals should be going up. And he ended the period with less cash on hand compared to July – $1.1 million compared to $1.3 million.

Looking ahead to the general election, Blakeman offered the first look at his own fundraising numbers after he announced his campaign a little over one month ago. He reported contributions of $260,000 since his launch, a far more modest sum than Hochul or Delgado given the condensed timeframe. But Blakeman ends the period with over $1.2 million in the bank thanks to transfers from his county executive campaign account and from the Nassau County Republican Party. While it’s too soon to gauge his fundraising prowess statewide, he has put up impressive numbers while running for reelection on Long Island.