Hochul and Blakeman Make Final Pitches Before Early Voting

Republican Bruce Blakeman promised to cut taxes and utility bills at a Westchester canvass, and Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged to protect immigrant families at a Valley Stream event on Saturday, Oct. 17, as both candidates for governor made closing pitches on the cost of living a week before early voting begins on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, kicked off the canvass in Hawthorne in Westchester County. He told supporters he would end policies he said make New Yorkers less safe, cut taxes and cut utility bills in half, and he criticized state spending on migrants.

Hochul, a Democrat seeking a second full term, appeared at a meet-and-greet with South Asian community leaders in Valley Stream. She said immigrant families know she will stand up to federal immigration agents and protect them from tariffs, and she pointed to what she called the largest middle-class tax rate cut in 70 years.

Those themes echo the arguments the two made in their only scheduled debate, on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

In her opening statement at the Oct. 13 debate, Hochul said her administration had delivered "the largest middle-class rate cut in 70 years" and more than $10 billion in energy and inflation rebates, and that the state now has "the lowest crime rates it's had in modern history." She said her administration had taken more than 26,000 guns off the streets.

At the debate, Blakeman said New York is the highest-taxed state in the country and that utility bills run 70% above the national average. "Donald Trump didn't raise utility rates 48 times, you did," he told Hochul in the Oct. 13 debate. He said he would cut utility bills in half by extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.

On immigration, Hochul said federal agents had acted with no regard for New Yorkers' safety. "ICE is out of control. It's out of control in Nassau County," she said in the Oct. 13 debate. She said she wants police "keeping our community safe, not being deputized as ICE agents, which is what he did."

Blakeman said in the Oct. 13 debate that by cooperating with ICE, Nassau had removed more than 2,000 migrants with criminal records from the county "and we didn't raid one school, one hospital, one day care center or one church." He blamed cashless bail and other criminal justice changes for what he called a revolving door of criminality.

Each also cast the other as defined by President Trump. In the Oct. 13 debate, Hochul reminded Blakeman that "just four days ago you stood on a stage screaming at the top of your lungs, 'We love Donald Trump.'" Blakeman answered that Hochul talks about the president to avoid her own record. "Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, that's all you can talk about because you have a record of failure and misery," he said in the debate.

Asked at the Oct. 13 debate about his praise of Trump at a rally, Blakeman said Trump "deserves accolades for many of the things that he's done" and that he has differed with him on some policies. Hochul, responding in the debate to Blakeman's comments about policing in New York City, said she stands "with the men and women in blue every day of the week."

Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election runs from Saturday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 1, the state Board of Elections said, with hours that vary by county. On Election Day, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

In Suffolk County, voters may cast ballots at any of 28 early voting sites, including the Board of Elections early voting center at 700 Yaphank Avenue in Yaphank, the county Board of Elections said. Suffolk sites are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 24, 25 and 26 and on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1; from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 27 and 28; and from noon to 8 p.m. on Oct. 29 and 30. The county's early voting locations include town halls, libraries, fire departments and senior centers in all 10 towns.