Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman is within striking distance of incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the gubernatorial race, according to a new poll conducted by a pro-Blakeman super PAC.
The poll, reported by the New York Post, suggests that the Republican challenger is trailing the Democratic governor 47%-43%, with 10% undecided.
Hochul is underwater by 20% in a survey of her favorability, and 58% of respondents hold an unfavorable view of her.
Some 2,000 registered voters participated. More than 60% said that Hochul does not deserve a second full term in office, and only one-third of those polled said New York is going in the right direction.
Blakeman is only viewed favorably by 30% of those surveyed, but 47% held no opinion or hadn’t heard of the lower-profile Blakeman, who describes himself as an “almost Orthodox” Jew who is active in Jewish and Israel advocacy efforts.
The Nov. 3 general election is less than 100 days away, and despite most indicators suggesting voters are unsatisfied with Hochul, she holds a major cash-in-hand advantage over Blakeman, with more than four times his amount at her disposal.
The Blakeman-aligned poll is seemingly an outlier, with Hochul comfortably ahead in most other surveys. Hochul was also set to breeze past then-congressman Lee Zeldin in the 2022 race, only to sneak by with only a 6-point margin of victory.
Blakeman was elected to a second term as county executive in 2025, leading an area with 1.4 million residents, which of late has helped play a deciding role in control over Congress.
Hochul, who had largely been viewed positively by New York’s Jewish community, has lost some support in the wake of her endorsement of socialist Zohran Mamdani, an accused antisemite, in the New York City mayoral race.
