New York Election: Kathy Hochul Beats Bruce Blakeman

Gov. Kathy Hochul won reelection, prevailing over Republican challenger and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, according to the Associated Press. This comes after real estate industry players poured money into Hochul’s campaign in hopes of shaping the policy agenda as a slate of left-leaning lawmakers head to Albany.

The votes are still being tallied, but Hochul’s margin will dictate her housing mandate for the upcoming years. Hochul sought to frame the election as a referendum on Blakeman’s ties to President Donald Trump and federal policy impacts on New York, and allied with Mayor Zohran Mamdani on many tenant-friendly stances like his pied-à-terre tax.

Donors to Hochul’s campaign included Jed and David Walentas of Two Trees Management, the Durst Organization, Doug Eisenberg of A&E Real Estate, Lisa Gomez of L+M Companies and Bill Rudin, while Blakeman counted James Dolan among his campaign’s biggest contributors.

Hochul is poised to sustain or even ramp up her “build, baby, build” strategy for addressing a housing shortage across the state next term, following reforms she made to the State Environmental Quality Review Act in this year’s state budget. 

The governor also pushed for more housing development across the state’s suburban communities and clustered around transit in her 2023 New York Housing Compact, which she ultimately abandoned but could pursue again in a different form after reelection. 

The staying power of the pied-à-terre tax Hochul crafted and her promised expansion of universal childcare in New York City will also be tests of her relationship with Mamdani during Hochul’s second full term, which the mayor extensively campaigned to help her secure.

Attorney General Letitia James, who has made a crackdown on rent stabilization compliance a recent priority, also held onto her seat, defeating Saritha Komatireddy, despite sizable donations to the Republican challenger’s campaign from real estate names including the Tisch Family, Carole Olshan and Lloyd Goldman of BLDG Management. James’ campaign also secured thousands in donations from major real estate players, including Eisenberg, Marc Holliday of SL Green and Brian Steinwurtzel of GFP Real Estate, along with TF Cornerstone’s Elghanayan family and several key industry political action committees.

The slate of Mamdani-aligned candidates also locked up their races, solidifying primary wins across the board who will push broad housing policy reform at the state level. 

New York City voted to send Democratic socialists Samantha Kattan, Eon Huntley, Christian Celeste Tate, David Orkin and Illapa Sairitupac to the Assembly, along with Aber Kawas for a State Senate seat, all with Working Families Party co-endorsements. 

State Senate candidate and current Assembly member Jessica González-Rojas won her race, as did Assembly candidates Eli Northrup, Brian Romero and Chris McCreight, who aren’t DSA endorsees but still got WFP backing.

Their wins grow the ranks of left-aligned electeds in both the State Senate and Assembly, giving the once-modest bloc greater sway to push for policies that floundered in past legislative sessions, like the Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants Act, which would expand rent stabilization beyond New York City, and the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, effectively a state version of COPA. 

Many DSA lawmakers heading to Albany also support the creation of a Social Housing Development Authority to build public housing with union labor, along with a package of legislation dubbed Invest in Our New York that includes bills to raise taxes on certain corporations and unincorporated businesses with incomes of $5 million or more, as well as an “heirs’ tax” on inherited amounts over $250,000.

Once they arrive, the industry will be eager to see if the wave breaks in their favor. In any event, influential real estate groups will likely push more moderate lawmakers to put forth and preserve policy, making it easier to do business across New York, as calls to reform the 485x tax abatement and 2019 rules prohibiting vacancy deregulation reach a fever pitch.