Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman faces off against Democratic incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul, not pictured, in the only scheduled debate ahead of the November New York gubernatorial election, at the Spectrum News NY1 studios, in New York, US, Oct. 13, 2026. Photo: Anna Connors/Pool via REUTERS

New York Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman accused Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul of failing to protect Jewish New Yorkers from rising antisemitism and forging a political alliance with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani despite his alleged antisemitic behavior during Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate.

Blakeman, the Jewish Nassau County executive challenging Hochul in November, called Mamdani an antisemite and argued that the mayor’s rhetoric and policies have contributed to an increasingly hostile climate for Jewish residents. He also faulted Hochul for maintaining a political relationship with Mamdani despite their differences over Israel and antisemitism.

During the debate, Blakeman was questioned over reports circulated in the New York Times that he said during a private meeting on Sunday with Hassidic Jewish leaders that Mamdani would fail to protect them if there were violent riots or sexual assaults targeting women. According to the reports, he said, “If there is rioting here, if they’re burning down the yeshivas and your shuls, and burning down your house and raping your women.”

Blakeman also took Hochul to task for what he described as her inadequate response to anti-Israel protests on the Columbia University campus in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel. He argued that she was too weak and facilitated a “lawless” environment.

“They are the professional protesters that took over Columbia University, that blocked our bridges and our roadways, and the lawlessness that took place while Kathy Hochul wouldn’t protect Jewish students,” he said.

The confrontation came as concerns about antisemitism, anti-Israel demonstrations, and the political direction of New York’s Democratic leadership have become prominent issues in the governor’s race.

Asked during the debate to clarify whom he meant, Blakeman pointed to what he described as professional protesters who had occupied Columbia University and blocked bridges and roadways during demonstrations following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.

He accused Hochul of failing to adequately protect Jewish students amid campus protests and invoked the 1991 Crown Heights riots, criticizing the response of then-Mayor David Dinkins to the violence.

“I’m talking about political leaders getting involved in law enforcement when they shouldn’t be, what happened under David Dinkins when he waited three days before he stopped the rioting in Crown Heights,” Blakeman said.

During the 1991 riots, Black New Yorkers targeted and attacked Jewish residences and businesses for three days. The riots, which were sparked by a fatal car crash involving a Hasidic Jew and two young black children, were largely motivated by an unfounded belief that Jewish New Yorkers received preferential treatment from city services.

Blakeman’s comments drew a sharp response from Hochul, who argued that his warnings reflected a lack of confidence in law enforcement.

Blakeman also targeted Mamdani over his approach to antisemitism and Israel, pointing to the mayor’s decision to rescind the city’s use of the widely adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism on his first day in office.

Beyond traditional antisemitic acts associated with the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the definition provides contemporary examples of antisemitism found in public life, media, education, workplaces, and religious settings — including Holocaust denial and modern forms targeting Israel, such as demonizing the Jewish state and denying its right to exist. Critics argue that the definition can treat legitimate criticism of Israel as antisemitism.

Mamdani, a far-left democratic socialist and anti-Zionist, is an avid supporter of boycotting all Israeli-tied entities who has been widely accused of promoting antisemitic rhetoric. He has repeatedly accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide”; refused to recognize the country’s right to exist as a Jewish state; and refused to explicitly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been associated with calls for violence against Jews and Israelis worldwide.

Recently, Mamdani promoted outrage when he accused Israel of orchestrating an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza in a statement commemorating the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre — an attack that many experts have described as an act of genocide against Jews and Israelis.

Hochul — who describes herself as an ally of Israel — and Mamdani have developed a political alliance despite their ideological differences. Blakeman seeks to refashion that relationship into a millstone around Hochul’s neck as she seeks to retain office in the deep blue state of New York.

The governor has defended her record on Jewish communal safety, while Blakeman has sought to appeal to voters concerned about antisemitism and the direction of the Democratic Party.

However, although Hochul maintains an edge in the overall edge in the contest, polling indicates that Jews in New York are moving away from the Democratic Party. CNN polling revealed on Wednesday showed that Democrats command a 13-point edge in the Jewish vote, a sharp decline from the 49-point and 40-point advantage they enjoyed in both 2022 and 2018, respectively.

Meanwhile, Blakeman is performing better in the polls than past Republican gubernatorial nominees in New York. In one striking Pollfinity survey released on Tuesday, Hochul leads Blakeman by a margin of 47 percent to 44 percent.

Other polling has shown the incumbent ahead by about 10 points.

An Oct. 8 poll from Emerson College and PIX 11 showed Hochul ahead of Blakeman by 12 points, 52 percent to 40 percent.

Days earlier, a Siena University poll in late September found the candidates within 9 points of one another, with Hochul leading 50 percent to 40 percent.