Hochul and Blakeman clash over ICE, Trump and costs in only New York governor debate

Right · 2Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, met on Tuesday night, 13 October, in what the New York Post described as the only debate of their gubernatorial campaign, with the election on 3 November. 1 2 Right · 2The debate opened on the conduct of ICE after its agents shot a 28-year-old Dominican national in the Marble Hill area of the Bronx the previous week. Fox News reported that the Department of Homeland Security said the man refused to comply with lawful orders during a targeted operation, and that a 5-year-old boy in his vehicle was unharmed. 2 3 Right · 2Blakeman blamed Hochul's sanctuary policies, asking what the man was doing in New York in the first place and calling him a "gangbanger". He said Nassau County had cooperated with ICE and removed over 2,000 migrants with criminal records until Hochul ended that cooperation. 2 3

Right · 1Hochul called his answer a "non-answer" and said he refused to condemn ICE. She said he would be fine with agents shooting into cars and that the incident could have killed a child. She said she oversees over 500 policing agencies and that "ICE is out of control", and also said New York is "not a sanctuary for criminals". 2 Right · 1The candidates also argued over President Trump and the economy. Hochul accused Blakeman of running a Trump "fan club" and blamed Trump for higher energy, grocery and tariff-driven costs. Blakeman said she avoided her own record, citing the highest taxes and utility rates he said were 70% higher than the national average. He said Trump is his friend and has endorsed him, and named Democratic supporters Bonnie Lautenberg and Debra Messing, to which Hochul replied, "you got two votes". 2 Right · 1Blakeman also attacked Hochul over Cornell University, saying that as governor and a trustee she did not call for an independent investigation when the district attorney dropped the case over sexual assault allegations, and adding "Shame on you". Hochul called it "pretty pathetic to blame me for what happened in a fraternity" and said the university failed the young woman. The Post's panel noted she belatedly said she was an ex officio member of the board. 4 1

Right · 1Blakeman also raised Hochul's 2024 remark that young Black children in the Bronx did not know the word "computer", which she later said was a misstatement, after Hochul accused him of associating with white supremacists, which he denied. 5 Right · 1Other topics included utility rates and the data-center moratorium, the corrections officers' strike, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Nassau County's auxiliary police. The Post said polls have consistently shown Hochul ahead, and another Post article put the gap at 9 to 11 points. 1 6 Right · 1Post panellists disagreed on who did better. One said Hochul was a "deer in the headlights", another said Blakeman seemed "stuck in a 2022 time capsule" while Hochul "was operating in the now", and a third said neither person clearly won. A body language expert quoted by the Post, Dr. Lillian Glass, said Hochul appeared defensive and embarrassed and that Blakeman's blinking showed anger, not nerves. 1 6