{"id":362752,"date":"2026-10-02T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362752\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T11:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:14:10","slug":"super-pacs-prop-up-hochul-re-election-aiming-for-big-win-that-will-fend-off-radical-dems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362752\/","title":{"rendered":"Super PACs prop up Hochul re-election, aiming for big win that will fend off ‘radical’ Dems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Super PACs backing Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s reelection<\/a> are boosting spending, aiming to help the Democrat win big in blue New York to fend off the \u201cradical\u201d wing of her party.<\/p>\n

Hochul already has the inside track with $33 million cash on hand between her campaign account and the account of the state Democratic Party \u2014 but sources say she wants to put some distance between her and Republican challenger<\/a> Bruce Blakeman and get blamed if a lack of enthusiasm hurts downballot candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201c[People are] angry and they have a right to be. And I think the governor knows that and the government knows she has to respond to that,\u201d said Jay Martin, who oversees The Leadership for New York Super PAC.<\/p>\n

Super PACs backing Democrat Kathy Hochul are opening up the spigot to aid her re-election bid against Republican rival Bruce Blakeman. Facebook\/Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the election is going to be very tight, regardless of how good a race that the governor runs or Bruce Blakeman runs,\u201d he told The Post Thursday. \u201cAnd so we believe that the governor needs support to make sure she has a mandate to push back against the more radical elements in the party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor has also a massive registration advantage in deeply blue New York, where there are 6 million registered Democrats, 3.4 million voters not affiliated with any party and only 2.8 million registered members of the GOP, according to Board of Elections figures.<\/p>\n

No Republican has won a statewide race since Gov. George Pataki in 2022.<\/p>\n

But Martin said Hochul supporters aren\u2019t taking any chances as incumbents face a \u201ctoxic environment\u201d because of soaring prices.<\/p>\n

His PAC has received a $3 million donation from the landlord and property managers group the New York Apartment Association, where he was formerly executive director.<\/p>\n

That money is being used to air a 30-second spot <\/a>Sunday during the Buffalo Bills-New England Patriots game, ripping Blakeman as President Trump\u2019s \u201cbiggest cheerleader,\u201d Politico first reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Trump says \u2018jump\u2019 Bruce shakes his pom-poms,\u201d the narrator says.<\/p>\n

Between her campaign and Democratic Party account, Hochul has already raked in $33 million in contributions for her re-election campaign. Facebook\/Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n

Hochul recently announced raising $8.5 million over the summer months between her campaign and the state Democratic Party\u2019s account, part of the overall $33 million war chest with only weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

Blakeman\u2019s campaign has yet to release his latest fundraising figures, which are due Friday.<\/p>\n

The pro-Hochul influx of cash comes as the Democrat wants to win by a much wider margin than she did in 2022, when she beat Republican Lee Zeldin by six percentage points \u2014 a surprisingly close margin in the left-leaning state.<\/p>\n

Hochul performed poorly in the suburbs, and critics railed that the top of ticket hurt local races and contributed to Democratic losses in House races in swing districts.<\/p>\n

PACs are looking to put their thumb on the scale this time for a better result.<\/p>\n

Gov. Hochul mentioned earlier this summer that she has raised $8.5 million in campaign funds. Andrew Schwartz \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Super PAC Fair and Affordable New York, bankrolled by Uber Technologies<\/a>, is spending $3 million to promote Hochul.<\/p>\n

The Democratic governor, who has been in office since 2021, rammed through a law to rein in auto insurance costs earlier this year, a top priority of of the driver app firm.<\/p>\n

A pro-Hochul environmental advocacy PAC \u2014 Evergreen New York \u2014 also has spent $270,000 over the past week attacking Blakeman, according to state Board of Election filings.<\/p>\n

One pro-Blakeman outside group, Strong and Safe New York, has raised $5 million and is spending heavily promoting the challenger and attacking Hochul.<\/p>\n

That group is largely bankrolled by Knicks owner James Dolan <\/a>and more recently by retired casino magnate Steve Wynn, who kicked in $1 million.<\/p>\n

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Democrats like Queens Borough President Donovan Richards predicted Hochul would come out on top, even as she faces mounting scrutiny from a growing liberal wing of the party energized by democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s election win last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Hochul is going to run up the score in New York City. There\u2019s been no better governor for Queens,\u201d Richards said. \u201cBlakeman\u2019s association with President Trump is going to hurt him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Super PACs backing Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s reelection are boosting spending, aiming to help the Democrat win big in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1626,44600,426,57,9,24,55,54,56,13895,87,110704,30258,6480,58],"class_list":["post-362752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-james-dolan","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-ny-governor-election-2026","tag-politics","tag-steve-wynn","tag-super-pacs","tag-uber","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362752","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=362752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}