ALBANY – Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman disputed a Siena College poll released Wednesday showing Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul with a 49 percent-39 percent lead over him, calling the race “neck and neck.”
“All of the polls we have seen in the last two months have us virtually tied with Kathy Hochul,” Blakeman said. “This poll is always off and continues to be off. We know and she knows this race is neck and neck.”
Blakeman said Hochul is “desperate for people to believe that she is way ahead,” and he criticized the governor over taxes, electric bills and crime.
A spokesperson for the Hochul campaign, Ryan Radulovack, fired back at Blakeman.
“The difference in this race is crystal clear: Governor Hochul has put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets at every opportunity, invested billions in public safety, and stood up against Donald Trump’s endless attacks on this state,” Radulovacki said. “MAGA all the way Bruce Blakeman, who’s literally campaigning with Trump himself, jacked up property taxes and let violent crime spike to decade highs on his watch – and that’s what we continue to see voters respond to.”
Radulovacki declined to provide a comment specific to the latest Siena poll, which was conducted August 3-6 among 811 likely New York voters and found Hochul leading Blakeman by 10 percentage points.
In June, among registered voters, Hochul’s lead was twice as large, 52perent – 32 percent, Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said. In August 2022, Hochul led Republican challenger Lee Zeldin by 14 percentage points, 53 percent – 39 percent. Hochul went on to win the November election by six points, 53 percent – 47 percent.
In other statewide races, per the Siena poll, Attorney General Letitia James (D) leads her challenger, Saritha Komatireddy (R), 54 percent -36 percent, while State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (D) leads Joseph Hernandez (R), 55 percent – 32 percent.
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