{"id":5597,"date":"2026-07-28T20:40:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T20:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5597"},"modified":"2026-07-28T20:40:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T20:40:05","slug":"exclusive-ny-gop-governor-candidate-bruce-blakeman-trails-hochul-by-just-4-points-in-shocking-new-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5597","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | NY GOP governor candidate Bruce Blakeman trails Hochul by just 4 points in shocking new poll"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul leads her Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman by just 4 percentage points, according to a bombshell new poll.<\/p>\n

Read more Gavin Newsom\u2019s ex-lover exposes wife\u2019s shocking hypocrisy in affair scandal comments<\/a><\/p>\n

Just 47% of those surveyed said they\u2019d back the Democratic incumbent, compared to 43% who supported the Nassau County executive, with 10% of registered voters undecided, the poll, conducted by a pro-Blakeman super PAC found.<\/p>\n

Only 38% of respondents said they viewed Hochul favorably \u2014 and 58% unfavorably \u2014 in a survey of 2,000 registered voters conducted by pollster Red Oak Strategic for the \u201cStrong and Safe\u201d super PAC.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, only 39% of voters approved of Hochul\u2019s job performance compared to 56% who disapproved.<\/p>\n

Anti-incumbent fever is running high, according to the poll, a summary of which was obtained by The Post.<\/p>\n

Only 33% of voters say Hochul, who is seeking a second full, four-year term, deserves re-election while 61% say it is time to give someone else a chance, according to the survey, conducted from July 7\u201312.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe environment favors a challenger: just 33% say New York is headed in the right direction vs. 57% wrong track,\u201d Red Oak Strategic said in its July 21 polling memo to \u201cinterested parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blakeman is viewed favorably by 30% of voters and 23% unfavorably \u2014 while 47% of voters have never heard of him or have no opinion, with less than 100 days until the Nov. 3 general election.<\/p>\n

Still, Blakeman\u2019s supporters see an opening given Hochul\u2019s soft support.<\/p>\n

The survey found that 57% of voters said things in New York are on the wrong track while just 33% of respondents said the state is going in the right direction.<\/p>\n

A majority of voters cited \u201ccost of living\/inflation\u201d and the \u201ceconomy\/jobs\/taxes\u201d as their top issues, followed by a third who mentioned public safety.<\/p>\n

Nearly six in 10 voters \u2014 57% \u2014 blamed politicians for cost-of-living woes, compared to 35% who blamed corporations.<\/p>\n

As for personal finances, 43% of voters say they are worse off than a year ago; while only 15% are better off, with the rest saying about the same, according to the survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.<\/p>\n

The survey also indicated that Hochul is underwater with independent voters \u2014 which could boost Blakeman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHochul opens at 47\u201343 (Hochul +4%) with 10% undecided. Blakeman already leads independents 54%\u201333%, holds Republicans 83\u201310, and runs strongest in the suburbs (51%),\u201d the polling memo said.<\/p>\n

But Hochul has a massive fundraising advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriends for Kathy Hochul\u201d reported it had $21 million on hand ahead of the election, according to recent filings, plus an additional $22 million in the state Democratic Party\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s more than four times the amount Blakeman and the state Republican Party have generated.<\/p>\n

Read more Steamy moment aide\u2019s affair with Gavin Newsom began \u2014 in cringeworthy detail<\/a><\/p>\n

Pro-Blakeman super PACs such as Strong and Safe \u2014 which is backed by MSG owner James Dolan \u2014 could help raise millions of dollars to help counter incumbent Hochul\u2019s fundraising advantage during the campaign\u2019s home stretch.<\/p>\n

The Dolan-led MSG Entertainment and MSG Sports each donated $350,000, totaling $700,000, to the pro-Blakeman super PAC earlier this month, according to Strong and Safe\u2019s recent campaign filings.<\/p>\n

MSG has donated $2 million to the Coalition to Restore New York, a group created by Dolan in 2021, which in turn gave\u00a0 $300,000 to Strong and Safe.<\/p>\n

Red Oak\u2019s turnout model projected 5.9 million voters will cast ballots \u2014 about 44% of 13.5 million registered voters.<\/p>\n

The survey claimed 73% of Republicans are much more interested in this governor\u2019s race than in the previous ones, compared to 44% of Democrats \u2014 a 29-point enthusiasm gap.<\/p>\n

But Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1 in the Empire State, while about 25% of voters are independent or not enrolled with a political party.<\/p>\n

The poll also conspicuously ignored the elephant in the room \u2014 Blakeman\u2019s pal, President Trump \u2014 who is deeply unpopular in blue-leaning New York, according to other polls.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

History is not kind to the party of the president in power during midterm congressional elections.<\/p>\n

In 2018 during Trump\u2019s first midterm, then-Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo won re-election in a landslide over Republican challenger Marc Molinaro, while Democrats picked up US House seats and took control of the state Senate in a blue wave election.<\/p>\n

Hochul in 2022 defeated former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the current US Environmental Protection Administrator, by just 6 percentage points \u2014 a race that occurred during former Democratic President Joe Biden\u2019s midterm.<\/p>\n

Other surveys have had Hochul comfortably ahead of Blakeman by double digits.<\/p>\n

A Siena College poll released in late June showed Hochul leading Blakeman by 20 percentage points \u2014 52% to 32%.<\/p>\n

But another poll conducted by a conservative-leaning group earlier this month showed Hochul leading Blakeman by just 6 points \u2014\u00a0 47% to 41% among likely general election voters.<\/p>\n

That survey was conducted by the firm co\/efficient for the right-leaning, pro-Blakeman \u201cCoalition to Protect Nassau Taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Gavin Newsom\u2019s ex-mistress admits she wet the bed on their first night together<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Kathy Hochul is leading Republican Bruce Blakeman by just 4 points, 47% to 43%, with 10% of voters still undecided, according to a poll conducted by Red Oak Strategic for the \u201cStrong and Safe\u201d super PAC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive | NY GOP governor candidate Bruce Blakeman trails Hochul by just 4 points in shocking new poll - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive | NY GOP governor candidate Bruce Blakeman trails Hochul by just 4 points in shocking new poll - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gov. Kathy Hochul is leading Republican Bruce Blakeman by just 4 points, 47% to 43%, with 10% of voters still undecided, according to a poll conducted by Red Oak Strategic for the \u201cStrong and Safe\u201d super PAC.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T20:40:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Exclusive | NY GOP governor candidate Bruce Blakeman trails Hochul by just 4 points in shocking new poll\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T20:40:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597\"},\"wordCount\":818,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4a02a21a27048f335dd44238dd4ef88b.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Metro\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5597\",\"name\":\"Exclusive | NY GOP governor candidate Bruce Blakeman trails Hochul by just 4 points in shocking new poll - 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