Hochul gets a vitamin AOC shot

Within the Democratic Party, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are like apples and oranges. But the pair put aside their ideological differences with a month till Election Day for a rare joint appearance at a Hudson Valley apple orchard. 

“I am incredibly proud to be here – I’m very grateful to the governor for her leadership and her responsiveness on such a cutting-edge and innovative issue,” Ocasio-Cortez said of the one-year moratorium Hochul signed in July pausing state environmental permits for new centers that could consume 50 megawatts or more of electricity.

Hochul gathered Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Pat Ryan and other Democratic leaders at Fishkill Farms in southern Dutchess County on Tuesday to speak out against the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers – with the clear goal of energizing voters at the top of the ticket as the governor tries to hold off a challenge from Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman.

They’re a big city democratic socialist, a rural populist and a pro-capitalism moderate – with some overlap among them – and Ocasio-Cortez, Ryan and Hochul all sat down with farmers and agricultural industry stakeholders to discuss the consequences of a huge hyperscale data center proposed adjacent to the property. And the governor wouldn’t let participants forget which side fights regulating the industry in the name of building business.

“The Trump administration is rolling out the red carpet for massive AI data centers and telling communities that they should trust these powerful companies to do the right thing, and that they know what’s best,” Hochul said.

The bucolic meeting was, notably, organized by Hochul’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s government offices, and wasn’t officially a campaign event – but it had high political stakes. The discussion took place in the closely watched 17th Congressional District, where Democrat Cait Conley is hoping to help her party take back the House by unseating Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. And the event seemed tailored to appeal to New Yorkers who may not know who to vote for – or whether to vote at all – on Nov. 3.

The latest independent polls show Hochul maintains a comfortable lead over Blakeman in next month's gubernatorial race, but she continues to struggle with favorability from independent voters, and could use a lift in the suburbs and farther upstate, where her margins are much narrower. It makes sense, then, for the governor to appear with Democrats to her left – ones who can help energize younger voters in November – to make up for it.

Hochul’s appearance with Ocasio-Cortez and Ryan comes despite Blakeman’s eagerness to tie the governor to the far left and criticize her for her good relationship with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist. Hochul hasn’t actually appeared with Ocasio-Cortez in the past year, her office confirmed – their last meeting was at a Mamdani mayoral campaign rally. 

Hochul defended her decision to hold a rare joint event with Ocasio-Cortez, saying they “are 100% aligned” on data centers, since the lawmaker introduced the House companion version of the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act.

“It’s all about our mutual interest in focusing on affordability and lifting up New Yorkers in smaller localities,” Hochul told reporters. “I wouldn’t read any more into it than that.”

Concerns about data centers transcend party lines, and Democrats are using that in their favor. “This is an issue where folks of all generations and all political views and all the other divides that we have in our country, this is an issue where the people are very very clear, they are united,” Ryan said. 

The Democrat is expected to cruise to reelection in his neighboring Hudson Valley district, but has been building up political chits as he eyes a run for higher office in the future. 

Standing with an ambitious Democrat like Ryan and a star of the progressive left like AOC – who’s known to be eyeing a future run for U.S. Senate or president – at the very least could soothe concerns that Hochul is becoming like the electeds to her left, or that she won’t compromise with them t. On the heels of Ocasio-Cortez’s recent upstate tour, Hochul would neither commit to, but also wouldn’t rule out, the possibility of other joint campaign events this month.

The Congress members didn’t take questions from the podium, and when reporters caught her on the walk to her car, Ocasio-Cortez wouldn’t say whether she thinks democratic socialist voters would show up for Hochul. But she still found a way to give the governor a boost.  

“We know something for sure, which is that Blakeman is a uniquely dangerous candidate,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “He wants to turn over the entire state to these tech oligarchs. He wants to turn over the state to data centers with no protections for communities. He wants to gut the entire tax base that funds our schools and our healthcare. And I do believe that everyday New Yorkers see this for what it is.”