Opinion: Kudlow Says a Blakeman Win Over Hochul Would Also Knock Out Mamdani
Fox Business host Larry Kudlow argues the New York governor's race is a proxy fight over the policies of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
This is a summary of an opinion column. The views belong to its author, Larry Kudlow, not to RightNewsRightNow.
Kudlow's argument is simple: the race between Republican Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is about more than Albany. In his view, a Blakeman victory "will not only knock out a far-left blue state governor, it will also knock down New York's socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani."
Having watched the previous night's debate, Kudlow says Blakeman "clocked Governor Hochul time and again." He frames the exchange this way: Hochul ran against President Trump while Blakeman ran against Hochul and Mamdani. He quotes Blakeman: "when you talk about Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, that's all you can talk about because you have a record of failure and misery for the people who live in this state." Hochul replied, "I do not wrap myself in the shroud of Donald Trump the way you did." Blakeman's answer, per Kudlow: "No, you wrap it in Zohran Mamdani."
On policy, Kudlow says Blakeman hammered the governor on high taxes, big utility bills and her attempt to stop AI data centers, which Kudlow argues would hand the AI race to China. He praises Blakeman for repeatedly calling to drill and pipeline natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, as Pennsylvania has, which Kudlow says has lowered utility costs there. He also says Blakeman attacked sanctuary policies and what he called soft-on-crime and soft-on-immigration positions.
Kudlow highlights two moments. The first was about the Cornell sexual misconduct allegations. Blakeman asked Hochul, who is a Cornell trustee and governor: "Where were you? What did you do?" noting the state funds the university to the tune of $150 million a year and that she did not call for an independent investigation when the district attorney dropped the case.
The second was Blakeman's statement that "Zohran Mamdani is an antisemite," which he also said of Mamdani as anti-Christian and lacking "American values." Those are Blakeman's charges as quoted by Kudlow, and they are strongly disputed assertions rather than established facts.
Kudlow ends with caution: "We'll see what the next round of polls bring," though he thinks the debate advantaged Blakeman.