ALBANY, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul won big policy achievements in her $254 billion budget, allowing her to address crime and the cost of living and chart a roadmap for Democrats navigating shifting political allegiances in the Trump era.
Now she has to sell that to voters.
The New York Democrat’s fourth spending plan — which needs legislative sign off — solidifies her growing reputation as a capable Albany dealmaker, with proposed solutions for big problems like antisemitism, random street crime and mental illness.
But Hochul has struggled to leverage her victories to boost her reputation with voters outside the gilded halls of the state Capitol.
Her budget is trying to resolve issues that can’t be fixed by the time she’ll be on the ballot for reelection campaign next year. Some of the proposals are incremental solutions, and there’s nothing she can tie a ribbon around.
Over the objections of left-leaning Democratic lawmakers, the spending package she announced Monday evening will crack down on masked criminals, require hospitalization for mentally ill people who pose a danger and restrict cellphones in schools. Hochul this month continued to push Democrats toward the center on criminal justice policy, appearing to address the political perils she faced in 2022, when she won by a surprisingly narrow margin amid voters’ concerns about cashless bail. The governor raised the subjects during annual budget negotiations, in keeping with Albany’s practice of stuffing a fiscal plan with policy issues.
Still, Democrats believe Hochul has a message that can resonate nationally, and her political allies are mobilizing to spend money to pitch her wins directly to New York voters, according to state Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs.
“What’s important is we have some plan to get this out to people,” Jacobs said in an interview. “This truly was a great success on the part of the governor and it would be a shame for people to not understand that.”
Hochul’s middle-of-the-road policies are popular with voters; the governor is not. Her poll numbers have improved recently, but are still subpar for an incumbent facing reelection: A Siena College survey found 44 percent of voters hold a favorable view of Hochul; 43 percent do not. It was the first time since January 2024 she has had a positive rating in the closely watched poll. Nearly half of voters polled said they want someone else elected to the job.
State Democrats recognize Hochul needs to get her numbers up. The governor will travel the state in the next two weeks touting budget wins, highlighting broad affordability and public safety themes — two issues President Donald Trump successfully wielded against Democrats last year. Parallel to the statewide tour, her political allies are weighing a paid campaign highlighting the budget victories directly to New Yorkers potentially through TV ads and mailers.
“Despite the chaos and uncertainty that’s just constantly emanating out of Washington, we still delivered for the people of New York — we still got it done and I would not take that for granted,” Hochul said Monday when announcing the budget deal.
Jacobs acknowledged voters need to connect Hochul with her successes. He is considering a paid media effort to highlight Hochul’s budget, though it is not yet clear how much he wants to spend or whether it will take the form of an independent expenditure committee.
“People aren’t searching for this kind of news, they have lives to live,” Jacobs said. “It doesn’t resonate at times and I don’t want it to get lost. But when you run a campaign style effort, that tends to break through — at least more than just public events.”
Persuading voters that Hochul has been a champion for popular policies takes on new importance ahead of potential primary challenges from Rep. Ritchie Torres and her estranged lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado. A trio of Republicans, Reps. Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, are also considering bids, buoyed by GOP candidate Lee Zeldin coming within 6 points of unseating Hochul three years ago.
Some Democrats expect the issues tackled in the budget — namely crime, long a concern for New York voters — could defuse potential GOP attacks.
“It’s a good opportunity to be responsive to voters and take away any potential talking points from her opponents,” said Basil Smikle, a former state Democratic Party executive director.
Flipping the New York governor’s mansion would be a massive victory for Republicans in a state where Democrats outnumber them 2 to 1.
Republicans, who hold powerless minorities in the state Legislature, are nevertheless gearing up to highlight potential vulnerabilities — including a Hochul-backed payroll tax hike on large employers in the New York City region in order to shore up a $68 billion infrastructure plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Republican candidates have successfully campaigned against increases in that tax, and Hochul’s increase could be a useful weapon for the GOP as it prepares for the 2026 midterm elections that are likely to be a referendum on President Trump.
Meanwhile Hochul is yet to win over the influential, right-leaning New York Post, which hammers her over crime and her fiery support for congestion pricing.
Given those dynamics, the popular items in the budget won’t be enough to save her, Republican state Sen. George Borrello said.
“I don’t think it’s going to take away any of the sharp edges because, quite frankly, New York continues to flounder on crime, affordability and the quality of life,” Borrello said. “That is a big foil against a governor who has had a lot of time to fix it.”
Countering those expected attacks will require Democratic firepower behind a governor who has spent the balance of her professional life outside the glare of an often merciless New York City media.
Hochul and state lawmakers haggled over the details of the budget nearly a month past its April 1 due date as lefty Democrats opposed stronger penalties for people who wear face coverings when committing a crime and changes to evidence handling procedures during criminal cases the main sticking points. Hochul was able to break through the logjam, in part, using the governor’s inherent power in the budget-making process.
She also left Albany while the incomplete budget languished — pitching her ideas directly to voters and framing the bureaucratic details over evidentiary discovery rules as a way to better protect domestic violence victims. Her anti-masking proposal — dropped into the talks just days before the budget deadline — was opposed by influential Black and Hispanic lawmakers who worry about the impact of over policing. Hochul held out for the provision, however, which was being pressed for by Jewish Democrats concerned with the antisemitism following college campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
“Her issues and her passion came across in this budget cycle better than any one she’s had before,” former Gov. David Paterson said. “She was very present, active and not afraid to get into with the legislative leaders.”
Debate over the mask provision ripped apart Albany Democrats, but it could boost the governor with Jewish New Yorkers next year, an essential bloc of voters. New York is home to the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel.
“It’s important for us to be responsive to this issue that’s very strongly felt by a lot of New Yorkers, including Jewish New Yorkers, who felt they were being targeted by mask harassers,” Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis said.
The governor is starting to take her victory lap before lawmakers even print the budget bills. Hochul kicked off her budget tour Tuesday at a YMCA and local prosecutor’s office highlighting child care spending and the changes to the state’s discovery laws. More events are being planned in the coming weeks to highlight the affordability and anti-crime measures in the budget deal.
“This is government at its best,” Hochul told reporters. “We can take a problem, we can solve it, and the most important next step is to let them know what we did for them.”
Jason Beeferman contributed to this report.
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