Enter stage right.<\/p>\n
Anti-Trump \u201cWill & Grace\u201d actress Debra Messing <\/a>is snubbing Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul and instead backing Republican Bruce Blakeman\u2019s gubernatorial campaign.<\/p>\n It\u2019s quite a sea change for Messing, who once stumped for Hillary Clinton for president and donated to far-left actress Cynthia Nixon\u2019s campaign for governor in 2018 and has been, at least until recently, a staunch critic of <\/a>Blakeman-boosting President Trump.<\/p>\n Debra Messing and Bruce Blakeman during a fundraiser hosted by dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot in Manhattan, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. Blakeman Campaign<\/p>\n But Brooklyn-native Messing, who even appears in a video with Blakeman, has complained about what she claims is a decline in her hometown\u2019s conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so grateful you are running. You are what we need more than anything,\u201d she told Blakeman during a recent Manhattan fundraiser for the candidate hosted by dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe decline in this city over the last four years has been so exponential and devastating \u2014 economically, socially and on every level. And obviously, we\u2019ve lost so much business here. People are leaving,\u201d said Messing, an NYU alum.<\/p>\n Messing called the Big Apple the \u201ccity I love\u201d but said, \u201cIt\u2019s not the city I love anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked at Blakeman and said, \u201cI believe in all my heart that you are the answer. You are the affordable campaign, candidate.<\/p>\n New York Gov. Hochul and New York State Attorney General Letitia James hold a press conference in Manhattan, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are just really struggling. They need their utilities to be lower,\u201d Messing said.<\/p>\n The actress also alluded to the $9 congestion pricing toll to enter Manhattan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just too expensive to live in New York City, and I love the fact that is at the top of your mind,\u201d Messing told the Republican candidate.<\/p>\n Messing, who is Jewish, has publicly expressed her outrage over Hamas\u2019s murderous Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.<\/p>\n