Hochul Re-elected New York Governor as Democrats Sweep NYC Races

Photo: Andy Hirschfeld/Al Jazeera (Hochul supporters at her victory speech)

Kathy Hochul has won another term as governor of New York, beating Republican Bruce Blakeman, as Democrats swept the races across New York City. Her win, called by the Associated Press, came on a night when progressive candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also won seats in Congress.

Hochul has held the governor's office since 2021, and this was her second full term win at the ballot box. She beat Blakeman, a lawyer and Nassau County executive who ran on tax cuts and immigration reform. In her victory speech she took aim at Donald Trump, who had campaigned hard for Republicans before the midterms.

"Just a few weeks ago, Donald Trump came to New York and told voters to pretend he was on the ballot," she said. "Well, Mr President, you got your wish."

Her running mate Adrienne Adams, a former New York City Council member, won alongside her. Al Jazeera reported the two have become the first all-woman ticket to win election as governor and lieutenant governor in New York's history. Hochul's new term starts on the first day of January.

The New York City results told their own story. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, all endorsed by Mamdani, won their races for Congress in the 10th, 13th and 7th districts. All three were seen as certain winners after the June primaries, in districts that lean heavily Democratic, but their wins still sealed the political shift Mamdani's own victory as a democratic socialist in the 2025 mayoral race had started.

Valdez, who came up through the labour movement and has pushed to make it easier for unions to organise, beat Republican community activist Melvin Rivera. She told Al Jazeera outside a polling station that she did not trust the president to make moral and consistent decisions about the military budget, after Trump pledged on Tuesday to end annual military aid to Israel by the end of the year. Cutting off such aid was central to all three candidates' platforms, as part of their opposition to Israel's war in Gaza.

There were other familiar names on the winners' list too. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her race for the 14th congressional district with ease. Micah Lasher, a New York Assembly member, won his first term in Congress. Grace Meng in Queens won re-election, and told Al Jazeera the wider Democratic sweep is a mandate, not just a promotion. She said a goal for the new Congress would be to push back on Trump, who has not treated Congress like a third and independent branch of government.

New York's Democrats are now pushing for Hakeem Jeffries, the longtime representative for the state's 8th district and the current House minority leader, to be chosen as House speaker by his party colleagues. If that happens, he would be the first Black speaker in the history of the House. New York Attorney General Letitia James, re-elected on Tuesday, told supporters: "We are going to course-correct, and my good friend Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is set to wield the speaker's gavel."

The New York result fits the national picture from election night. Democrats flipped the US Senate and were projected to win the US House, while Keisha Lance Bottoms made history as the first Black woman elected a US governor, Jon Ossoff kept his Senate seat in Georgia, and Annie Andrews stunned Trump's pick in South Carolina. New York alone elected 26 members to the House, so its sweep carries real weight in the new Congress.

Sources

Al Jazeera: Democrats dominate NYC races, Hochul re-elected New York governor

Associated Press: New York governor election results

Watch for the House speaker vote in January, and whether Jeffries takes the gavel as New York's Democrats expect.

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