This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here.
ELECTIONS · November 3, 2026
By Nick Garber , New York Focus
Governor Kathy Hochul easily won another term as governor of New York on Tuesday, dispatching Republican Bruce Blakeman and affirming that New York may be returning to its blue-state roots.
Meanwhile, Democrats were leading in a number of other key races. In contests for the US House of Representatives, Mike Lawler conceded to Democratic challenger Cait Conley in the Hudson Valley; Republican Anthony Constantino was neck and neck with Democrat Blake Gendebien in a deep-red North Country seat; and Democratic incumbents Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen were comfortably ahead of Republican challengers on Long Island.
Other Democrats prevailed easily statewide. Attorney General Letitia James overcame a spirited challenge from Republican Saritha Komatireddy — leading by more than 20 points with three-quarters of votes counted — and Tom DiNapoli easily secured another term as comptroller.
The blue wave extended to the state legislature, where Democrats looked poised to pick up seats in both houses. South Brooklyn Republican State Senator Steve Chan trailed Democrat Larry He by 18 points with nearly all votes counted, and Democrats held leads in other seats on Long Island and upstate.
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Hochul led Blakeman by more than 20 points with almost 75 percent of votes counted. In 2022, she prevailed over Republican Lee Zeldin by only 6 points.
Speaking to supporters Tuesday night at a Midtown Manhattan watch party, Hochul thanked voters for re-electing her to a job that she called “the privilege of a lifetime.” She vowed to spend her next term addressing the state’s affordability crisis.
“That’s what the next four years are for: to finish what we started, with bold ambition and a sense of urgency,” Hochul said.
The results suggest that New York remains a solidly blue state for Democrats, tamping down speculation that the GOP might be making inroads after Zeldin’s strong performance and other Republican gains on Long Island. Hochul herself has argued that the state is no sure bet for Democrats, and tried to lower expectations that she would win by a wide margin.
“When people think that it’s a true-blue state and you should win by 25 points in New York or even 15 points — those days are over,” Hochul said in an October appearance on the Max Politics podcast. “We have truly major pockets of mega-Republicans.”
The mood was jubilant at a Midtown Manhattan watch party held by state Democrats on Tuesday, where the crowd celebrated Democratic romps across the country.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told the crowd that Hochul has embraced “new energy” and “new ideas.”
“Governor Hochul has led with a recognition that our highest obligation is not to our factions but to our futures,” Mamdani said.
Hochul has campaigned aggressively in recent weeks, holding rallies across the state before spending the lead-up to Election Day in vote-rich New York City, where she campaigned with Mamdani and other top Democrats.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, rallied in Syracuse last month with President Donald Trump, and spent the day before the election jumping from Long Island to Syracuse with fellow statewide GOP candidates.
The race centered on the cost of living, which has consistently ranked alongside the economy as the top concern of New York voters, according to polls. Hochul has run on her record — touting the tax cuts she enacted on middle-income households, her efforts to lower auto insurance rates, and the checks she has mailed to taxpayers in the form of “energy rebates” and “inflation refunds,” which have come at a multibillion-dollar cost to the state.
Blakeman campaigned on a promise to eliminate income taxes for individuals earning below $50,000 and married couples making under $100,000, as well as an across-the-board 10-percent tax cut for incomes below $250,000. Blakeman blamed Hochul for rising utility bills and the state’s high tax rates, although his own policy platform was thinly sketched out.
Both candidates raised millions of dollars, and both were aided by an onslaught of spending by outside super PACs. Hochul was buoyed by outside groups including Uber, sports betting companies like DraftKings, and a hotel workers’ union, while pro-Blakeman groups raised millions from New York Knicks owner James Dolan, casino magnate Stephen Wynn, and cosmetics heir William Lauder.
Hochul’s victory gives her a second full four-year term and solidifies her place atop the power structure in Albany.
After a rocky first few years, punctuated by embarrassing battles with the state legislature and scandals in her inner circle, the governor has lately wielded power more effectively — repeatedly delaying state budgets in order to push through policy priorities such as auto insurance reform and rollbacks to the state’s 2019 climate and bail laws.
She has also forged an unlikely but effective partnership with Mamdani, helping him with policies like child care while cultivating good ties with his avid base of supporters.
“Part of the governor’s brand is that she puts her head down and does the work, and she’s not a showboat,” said Chris Coffey, a Democratic strategist. “The downside of that is, day to day, less people know who you are, and less people are as engaged with your work.”