Delgado is not strong, Richie Torres is likely to jump in the race and be endorsed by Cuomo, who hates Hochul and will be NYC mayor by then (he was endorsed by Torres). This causes the Dems to deplete their campaign funds in the Primary. Stefanik is loved by red rural upstate NY and Long Island and will be well-funded by the National Repub. party and out-of-state contributors. Unless Hochul steps aside, the Party will stand by her as the incumbent. Hochul is not popular in NYC. She barely squeaked by Lee Zeldin in the 2022 election. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/25/nyregion/hochul--governor-ny.html. Her handling of the migrant crisis was not appreciated (I’m being diplomatic).
Hochul may win 4/5 Burroughs of NYC, but not by large margins that historically have voted Dem. If she doesn’t perform in Long Island and Upstate, we could have Governor Stefanik.
As an aside, Cuomo politically would want a Repub Governor for his own political reasons — he would be the Dem leader in NY and better positioned to run for President in 2028, with a Repub foil who he can fight with. Remember the IDC coup Cuomo orchestrated as Gov to give the Repubs control of the NYS Senate?
If Hochul is the Dem nominee, the race is going to be much closer than last time. We didn’t think Trump could win again in 2024. Did anyone think Cuomo could rehabilitate himself and become NYC mayor. We need to stop burying our heads in the sand.
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