Gov. Kathy Hochul will raise taxes on New Yorkers to advance Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda if she wins re-election next week, Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman warned.
In the closing 30-second digital ad of his campaign, Blakeman alleges that Hochul plans to work with New York City’s mayor to impose billions of dollars in new taxes after the November 3 election unless voters intervene.
“Kathy Hochul made New York unaffordable — taxing paychecks, toll and fare hikes. The nation’s highest taxes,” the narrator says in the ad.
“Now, Hochul is planning with Mamdani massive new tax hikes for their socialist agenda: higher income taxes, property taxes, higher taxes on farms, small businesses. They even want to halve our inheritance, all while giving millions to illegals,” the commercial continues.
“Hochul raised taxes before, she’ll raise them again. Only your vote for Bruce Blakeman will stop them,” the narrator says.
Blakeman, the Republican Nassau County executive, has pledged to effectively eliminate income taxes for most New Yorkers if elected governor.
The Long Island politician says he would exempt the first $50,000 of income earned by single filers and the first $100,000 earned by married couples. He argues that economic growth and cuts to funding for illegal aliens would help pay for the $34 billion tax-reduction plan.
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During the candidates’ only debate, held October 14, Hochul said she would not increase state income taxes.
Hochul has twice increased the payroll tax on corporations in the New York City region to support mass transit. She also backed the $9 congestion-pricing toll for vehicles entering Midtown Manhattan, with the revenue designated for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Earlier this year, the Democratic incumbent approved a controversial new tax on luxury second homes in New York City to help support Mamdani’s budget.
Hochul, meanwhile, has touted cuts that reduced income-tax rates for middle-class New Yorkers to their lowest level in decades.
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which is allied with Mamdani, supports raising an estimated $32 billion from wealthy earners and corporations to finance universal child care and other social programs.
The Hochul campaign did not directly answer the tax question Tuesday, instead turning its criticism toward Blakeman’s record as Nassau County executive.
“Only a ‘MAGA all the way’ perennial candidate like Bruce Blakeman could expect you to believe he’d cut property taxes after raising them twice, or do anything about utility costs when he’s defending Trump’s record-high gas prices and fighting to let data centers jack up your energy bills,” a Hochul campaign spokesperson said.
“Governor Hochul stands up to Trump’s attacks on this state, has invested $4 billion into public safety, and cut middle-class taxes to historically low rates — just one week to go until we don’t have to hear any more lies from Blakeman.”