{"id":348004,"date":"2026-09-16T03:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T03:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348004\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T03:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T03:38:14","slug":"ny-correction-officers-back-blakeman-for-governor-as-hochul-faces-heat-over-state-prison-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348004\/","title":{"rendered":"NY correction officers back Blakeman for governor — as Hochul faces heat over state prison crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s correction officers endorsed Republican Bruce Blakeman for governor in a landslide vote \u2014 as Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to take heat for conditions at state prisons<\/a> following last year\u2019s massive strike.<\/p>\n

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association voted 1,370 to 78 to back Blakeman, the Nassau County executive \u2014 the first time that the union has endorsed in a statewide race, according to a letter obtained by The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results represent more than numbers on a ballot,\u201d NYSCOPBA President Chris Summers wrote in the message to members. <\/p>\n

\"BruceBruce Blakeman, center, said he is \u201chonored\u201d to have the endorsement of the state\u2019s correction officers. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThey represent the voices of NYSCOPBA members who took the time to participate and make their decision on who our organization should endorse in the upcoming November General Election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul \u2014 the incumbent seeking a second, full four-year term \u2014 has been on the outs with the union, particularly after she decided to fire<\/a> 2,000 COs during the illegal wildcat strike<\/a>, forcing thousands of National Guard troops to staff the prisons in their absence.<\/p>\n

Long after the strike ended in March 2025, several thousand guardsmen remain deployed across dozens of correctional facilities \u2014 costing state taxpayers millions of dollars<\/a> a month.<\/p>\n

State prisons had about 14,000 corrections officers<\/a>, sergeants and lieutenants just before the strike. But records from the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision showed headcount at roughly 11,113 as of last month \u2014 despite an aggressive recruitment drive after the strike.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York state correctional officers protest unsafe working conditions during a rally at the State Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Albany. Hans Pennink for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to have your support and make no mistake \u2014 when I\u2019m governor, we\u2019re bringing law and order back to New York and hiring back every single one of those officers Hochul fired,\u201d Blakeman said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of listening to the men and women risking their lives behind prison walls, she fired thousands of correction officers who demanded a safer workplace. Hochul walked away from NYSCOPBA and the heroes who protect us, but I never will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Hochul\u2019s campaign brushed off the endorsement, and bashed Blakeman for appointing a campaign donor to run Nassau\u2019s jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cBruce Blakeman named a campaign donor as Commissioner of Corrections, saw their officers\u2019 union criticize him for a terrible record, then hired him back a second time after promising not to \u2013 it\u2019s all BS, just like the rest of his terrible public safety record,\u201d Hochul Campaign Spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n

The union is also endorsing GOP attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy against incumbent Democrat Letitia James. And it voted to back Democratic State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who is facing Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s correction officers endorsed Republican Bruce Blakeman for governor in a landslide vote \u2014 as Democratic Gov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4241,1626,426,57,9,11,10,49,51,50,13895,4719,58],"class_list":["post-348004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-albany","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-ny-governor-election-2026","tag-prisons","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}