Is Hochul Going Full Mamdani?

New York Democrats have spent years behaving as though Albany belongs to them by divine right. Kathy Hochul may soon discover just how dangerous that arrogance can be.

Hochul’s biggest political problem is no longer simply taxes, crime, affordability or the endless exodus of New Yorkers. It is that she has willingly tied herself to the radical progressive movement embodied by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

That might earn applause from Manhattan socialists and progressive activists, but there is an entire state north and east of New York City that Democrats apparently keep forgetting exists.

Long Islanders are struggling with property taxes. Families across the Hudson Valley are watching everything get more expensive. Upstate communities have spent decades watching Albany politicians lecture them while their economies struggle.

And Hochul’s answer is to move closer to Mamdani?

Brilliant strategy.

Democrats should remember what happened in 2022. Lee Zeldin came within striking distance of defeating Hochul in a state Republicans were supposedly incapable of winning. That should have been a political earthquake for Albany Democrats. Instead, they apparently learned nothing.

Bruce Blakeman now has an opening.

He does not need to turn New York into Texas. He needs to convince suburban voters, independents and frustrated Democrats that one-party rule has moved New York too far left.

This election should become a referendum on one simple question: Do New Yorkers want Albany dragged further toward Mamdani-style progressive politics?

Hochul can keep embracing the radical left if she wants.

But she should not be surprised when millions of New Yorkers decide they have had enough.

New York isn't permanently blue.

And Democrats may be getting dangerously close to learning that lesson the hard way.