President Donald Trump is expected to appear in Syracuse alongside Republican candidate for New York governor Bruce Blakeman on Friday as Trump hits the road to campaign for Republicans across the country, according to a source familiar with Trump’s planning.
The president appeared with the Nassau County executive this summer on Long Island, and the upcoming visit brings up a tough question for Republican candidates in New York and elsewhere: Is it in the candidate’s best interest to be in close proximity to Trump given concerns around cost-of-living issues, not to mention the conventional wisdom that it stands to be a tough year for Republicans?
Enough Republicans appear to be embracing the president’s star power that Trump told reporters he has a packed schedule of upcoming campaign appearances as historically, he has struggled to translate that star power to the Election Days when the name Trump isn’t on the ballot.
“We’re scheduled to be someplace almost every night,” Trump said Monday.
One person who seems to have no problem talking about Donald Trump is Blakeman’s opponent, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“The assault on New York state because of these policies out of Washington has been brutal, and I’m the one doing cleanup, not Bruce Blakeman,” Hochul said.
Firing back Monday, Blakeman has accused Hochul of focusing on Trump rather than her own record.
“If I was governor for the last four years and I thought I did a good job, I’d be talking about my record,” Blakeman said.
Blakeman lashed out at Hochul during a stop in Erie County ahead of the visit.
“It’s Trump, Trump, Trump — first of all, Trump didn’t make us the highest taxed state, Kathy Hochul did. Our utility bills are seven times higher than the national average,” Blakeman said.
Hochul responded by rattling off a list of what she describes as key accomplishments of her administration, from a middle-class tax cut to steps toward universal childcare and policies intended to lower auto insurance costs.
“You can take any category that is creating a pressure point for New Yorkers, I’m working on it. Except for the ones that are generated by Donald Trump,” she said.
But recent polling suggests Trump campaigning for the county executive does come with risks.
While Trump performed well in rural parts of Central New York in 2024, a Siena poll late last month showed him underwater statewide, with 51% of voters saying his endorsement of Blakeman is a negative.
“The fact that the Hochul campaign is trying to tie Blakeman to Trump makes sense because Trump is so unpopular,” Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said.
Someone who views the appearance favorably is Anthony Constantino, the Republican nominee in New York’s 21st Congressional District. Constantino is running against Democrat Blake Gendebien to replace former Rep. Elise Stefanik.
“Right now, we’re tentatively planning on being there, and I would tell people he’s done a lot of great things,” Constantino said.
Constantino pushed back on the idea that Republicans should distance themselves from the president amid economic pressures related to tariffs and the war in Iran.
“People are frustrated by gas prices right now, but I remind people that gas prices were higher under Joe Biden, but the people who have the solutions to reduce gas prices are President Trump and the Republican party,” Constantino said.
There is also a good deal of talk that Trump’s visit to Central New York has as much to do with boosting Republicans in upstate congressional races as it does with Blakeman.
Interestingly, Trump has not appeared in Syracuse in a decade, despite the fact that the 2022 and 2024 races for New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which includes the city, were considered more competitive than that race is this year following redistricting in 2024.
Trump is also not the only outside political figure looming over the race for governor. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has increasingly become part of the contest as Republicans seek to make him an issue for Hochul and other Democrats. Polls last month, however, found Mamdani’s popularity higher than Trump’s statewide.