Hochul: Stefanik would've been tougher than Blakeman

Daily Point

Governor meets with Newsday's editorial board

Between stops in Freeport and Smithtown on a rainy Monday on Long Island, Gov. Kathy Hochul stopped by the Newsday editorial board for a conversation about the recently wrapped-up legislative session and the upcoming election as she seeks another term and hopes to flip some New York House seats from red to blue.

She highlighted the complexities of governing and the challenges of the political moment, as she faces pushback at times from both the right and the left. But even in discussing last month’s primaries, which included several New York City victories for leftist candidates whom she did not endorse, she also made clear that ultimately, she’s in charge.

"You’re looking at the leader of the party in New York State," Hochul said. "I’m not changing who I am. I will always be this moderate individual who looks at both sides, who’s very pragmatic, who solves problems."

She said Democratic socialist candidates in New York City did not reflect on the rest of the state, where, she said, there are more moderate Democratic candidates who will "make the difference, not just in New York State but nationally."

"There’s a lot of attention on specific districts in a specific city," Hochul said. "There is an entire state out there… I see the big picture. What works in an area is not redefining the entire state party, I assure you."

Come November, Hochul said she is looking for wins in CD 17, where Army veteran Cait Conley is challenging Rep. Mike Lawler, while hoping to hold on to CD3 and CD4, where Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen are seeking reelection. And Hochul talked up the ability of Democrats this year to gain rural seats upstate, specifically pointing to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s North Country seat in CD 21. Hochul noted that farmers and small business owners concerned about immigration raids, tariffs, utility costs and rural healthcare are seeking change, calling it a "confluence of factors that were not there even two years ago."

And Hochul noted that those issues could "play  ... from NY1 all the way up to the North Country."

The board asked Hochul if the low polling so far by her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman suggests Stefanik might have given Hochul a tougher path to reelection.

"Probably," she said. "I mean, Bruce is, you know, Bruce."

Then she added that Stefanik "had the ability to raise a lot of money" and articulate her positions, with a national following.

"It would have been a different race," Hochul said.

But Hochul added that she expected she would have won that race.

“Our polling shows us beating her as well,” Hochul said.

As for the prospect of a hard push by ICE in New York during this campaign, Hochul said Trump officials "know it isn’t going well for them in terms of reaction to Minneapolis, the murder of two U.S. citizens," as well as the impact on Long Island communities.

Hochul said she’s now trying to "harness that power from the left" to get those supporters to help in purple districts.

What districts would be a win for Hochul come November?

"All of them," she said.

Asked what she would have to deliver to those to her left if she is reelected in November, Hochul said, "good government."

Promises lower insurance costs

In pointing to what she sees as this year’s legislative and budgetary successes, Hochul was quick to emphasize changes in tort law and other auto insurance measures, which she said only came after what she called a "bloodbath" and a "lonely battle" with the powerful trial attorneys lobby who opposed the measures.

While Hochul said she did not have a date for when New Yorkers would start seeing declines in their insurance premiums, she promised to "make sure it’s successful."

The auto insurance fight, Hochul said, is part of a continued larger campaign to make New York more affordable. That’s particularly important, Hochul said, when it comes to housing. The governor remains focused on building more housing, pointing to the state environmental review law changes in this year’s budget that should ease the time it takes to construct new units. Hochul noted that some of the changes she has made put New York already ahead of what the federal government has done with the housing legislation just passed by Congress, which is expected to become law in the coming days.

Hochul also spotlighted the need for a "long-term energy strategy." She seemed to be, at least temporarily, moving away from other offshore wind projects — beyond Empire Wind, which is already under construction — to supply electric generation to Long Island. Instead, she said the answer was "leveraging" the plentiful water and nuclear power upstate. But that will take additional infrastructure to bring power here and transmission projects such as Propel NY Energy are running into local community opposition.

"Maybe transmission lines are being objected to. Nobody likes it. Nobody likes any of it. But then turn off your cellphones and keep sitting in the dark. I'm sorry. This is how it is," she said.

Among Hochul’s other priorities: A continued focus on the future of Nassau University Medical Center, where she installed new leadership a year ago and most recently selected Richard Kessel as the new chairman of the board.

"It should not be a patronage pit for the county executive in any county, but certainly not here," Hochul said. "Changing leadership is going to make a huge difference. It takes time … We’re not done yet."

Transit showdowns

Hochul also highlighted ongoing efforts on Long Island and beyond in which she finds herself trying to get people on different sides of an issue to find common ground.

Taking center stage Monday was the effort to move forward with plans for a railyard at the former Lawrence Aviation site, as Hochul signed legislation to preserve the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway, which runs through that property. That paves the way for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to purchase the Lawrence Aviation site for a future railyard, which could in turn allow for the future electrification of the Port Jefferson Long Island Rail Road line. Hochul told the editorial board that the needed deal with the MTA for the property transfer "is going to happen."

The move came after years of fighting between the MTA, Suffolk County and the state Department of Transportation. How’d it get done?

"I have my ways," Hochul said. "I force change and I force people to work together."

As for a timetable for when the deal will get done?

"Now," Hochul said.

Hochul said she is employing a similar strategy when it comes to the future redevelopment of Penn Station, which has been the subject of battling between the MTA and Amtrak. Hochul said she had a conversation with President Donald Trump "very, very recently" about Penn and "our desire to make this magnificent."

"I have a great vision for that place," Hochul said.

The governor said she is working "behind the scenes" and that negotiations are ongoing now.

"I’m going to make sure this happens," Hochul said.

But Hochul was definitive about whether New York would contribute financially to the Penn reconstruction.

"I’m not paying for it," she said. "Absolutely not."

— Rita Ciolli rita.ciolli@newsday.com, Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com, Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Playing bawl

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Final Point

Blakeman boasts crossing party lines — in the past

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says in a video posted on his official X account: "I have stood up to power. As a Republican, I’ve endorsed Democrats. I took on one of the strongest Republicans in my county because I thought the guy was a bully. And I don’t like bullies."

What "guy" was the "bully”? No answer was available Monday through a spokesman.

In 2017, Blakeman ditched GOP loyalties in the party's seat of power to endorse Democrat Laura Gillen for Hempstead Town supervisor. She defeated incumbent Anthony Santino. Gillen is on the ballot in November seeking reelection to Congress.

After winning the townwide race nine years ago, Gillen appointed Blakeman as her deputy town supervisor. Blakeman did not endorse her bid for reelection in 2019, when Gillen was unseated by Donald Clavin, now a judge. Santino, of East Rockaway, died in November at 64.

During that internal ferment of a decade ago, the late Nassau County GOP chairman Joe Mondello stated in a party memo: "Believing yourself to be above an organization that has given you such support is an affront to our party and a betrayal of all that has been done for him. It is not what our party is about." Mondello didn't use names but Santino had been his loyal right-hand man for many years.

In December, when it briefly appeared that Blakeman could be in a primary battle for the Republican nomination against Rep. Elise Stefanik, news sites were reminded that Blakeman’s consulting firm, Madison Strategies, donated $2,500 to soon-to-be Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 2006 campaign. Spitzer resigned in March 2008 amid a prostitution scandal.

In Blakeman’s losing 2014 run for Congress against Democrat Kathleen Rice, he touted his endorsement from a nationally prominent name from the George W. Bush presidency — John Bolton, who had served as United Nations ambassador.

On Sept. 5, 2014, Blakeman tweeted: “@AmbJohnBolton & I spoke abt our support for @Israel at the @oneisraelfund event at the Mael’s #Lawrence home in #ny04."

Bolton later served as national security adviser in President Donald Trump’s first term, but the two became adversaries. On June 26, with Trump controlling the Justice Department and bent on retribution, Bolton pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information. He’s due to be sentenced in October.

In another instance of not fighting back, Blakeman has followed Trump’s cues in New York State congressional races. Despite hefty GOP support upstate for Assemb. Robert Smullen to succeed Stefanik in the North Country congressional seat, Trump and his adviser Roger Stone saw their favorite, Smullen’s controversial rival Anthony Constantino, win the nomination on Primary Day.

On June 29, Blakeman declared: "Anthony Constantino had a rousing victory in the Republican primary and it is incredibly important to New York and America that we elect Anthony to succeed Elise Stefanik in Congress."

This is no season to anticipate Blakeman taking on his party’s powerful, namely Trump. That’s why the instance of partisan line-crossing to which he refers belongs far in the past.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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