Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman claims Democrats will try to “steal” the election as he looks to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul in an increasingly competitive race.
Battle for New York
Blakeman made the accusation during an appearance on Fox Business after host Maria Bartiromo questioned him about election security in New York.
“I’m wondering if you feel you have a shot under the current rules in New York state?” Bartiromo asked.
She pointed to New Jersey, where Gov. Mikie Sherrill recently revealed thousands of non-citizens had been registered to vote and hundreds of illegal votes were cast in 2023 and 2024.
“Are you going to be facing that in New York?” Bartiromo added.
“Well, we budgeted a significant amount of money for ballot security,” he said. “No. 2, we’ll have thousands of volunteers to make sure that there are no dirty tricks — that they don’t try to steal the election.”
Blakeman then corrected himself, saying, “They will try to steal the election.”
“Just like they wouldn’t let me speak at the Dominican Parade because they didn’t want a Republican to speak. Just like they tried to eliminate my ability to get matching funds but a court of five Democrats said that that was cheating and they gave me back the matching funds,” he continued. “Yes, they will try everything.”
Narrowing Kathy Hochul’s lead
The comments come as polling suggests Blakeman has narrowed Hochul’s lead. A Red Oak Strategic poll obtained by the New York Post showed Hochul leading Blakeman 47 percent to 43 percent.
The survey found only 33 percent of voters believe Hochul deserves reelection, while 61 percent said it is time to give someone else a chance.
Non-citizens registered to vote
Bartiromo raised election security concerns after Sherrill announced that 6,600 non-citizens were registered in New Jersey because of a “serious software error.” About 400 votes were cast, according to the state’s internal investigation.
The disclosure came after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed a probe found 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote across New Jersey, California, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Mullin sent letters demanding officials address the issue and warned those who fail to remove illegal voters could face fines or even “prison time.”
Blakeman, meanwhile, vowed to aggressively police the New York contest, describing himself as “a street fighter” determined to ensure the election is fair.
