Cait, don’t hold back.
Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed back sharply Friday against claims that she could hurt fellow Democrats on next month’s ballot, after congressional candidate Cait Conley appeared on video agreeing with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler that the incumbent governor “has to go.”
Asked about Conley’s remarks at a forum with Lawler in the closely watched race for New York’s 17th Congressional District, Hochul dismissed the controversy. “I really don’t lose a lot of sleep over other people’s debates,” she told reporters.
At an unrelated Manhattan event, Hochul also rejected Lawler’s interpretation of the exchange, saying, “I don’t really care about how Mike Lawler characterizes something.”
The governor added that Conley had since “clarified” what she said on camera.
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Conley’s campaign issued an unusual statement Thursday evening accusing Lawler of “lying in a desperate attempt to save face,” though it offered no additional explanation of the candidate’s comments.
The footage was recorded October 13 at a Veterans of Foreign Wars forum in northeastern Putnam County. In the video, Lawler tells the audience, “We need a new governor. Kathy Hochul has to go.”
Conley follows by saying she is in “absolute agreement” with him, then launches into repeated criticism of New York’s business environment.
Although Hochul sought to brush aside the apparent public rebuke, she did little to directly challenge the broader concern that her political standing could weigh on Democratic candidates farther down the ballot. That issue has followed her since Republicans made major gains during her 2022 reelection campaign against then-Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin.
Republicans won three New York House seats that year, helping the party capture control of the chamber. Prominent Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, placed some of the blame on Hochul.
“I want my candidates to win, and that’s all I’m going to say about it, I want my candidates to win,” Hochul said Friday.