Gov. Kathy Hochul is twisting herself into knots trying to please Zohran Mamdani’s “tax-the-rich” base — while clinging to her vow not to hit New Yorkers’ wallets since endorsing the socialist for mayor.
The unpopular Democratic governor rhapsodized this week about harnessing Mamdani supporters’ “energy,” but made a loopy argument that giving in to their fervent demands would force her to raise income taxes on the middle class.
“I’m concerned about outmigration of people who are the ones who are supporting our budget,” Hochul said on the “Raging Moderates” podcast Tuesday about the top 1.5% of earners fleeing if she raised their taxes like Mamdani wants.
“I cannot make up for that with middle class tax increases. I cannot do that to the middle class and the struggling New Yorkers. So, this is the balance…” she said, before catching herself.
“I mean, this is my position,” she then quickly corrected herself.
Hochul has consistently drawn a line against new income taxes during state budget negotiations over the last several years – and has been repeating that vow publicly since Mamdani won the June Democratic primary.
But her bombshell endorsement of Mamdani in September has forced her to balance that promise with courting his tax-hungy Democratic Socialists of America supporters as she gears up for a bruising 2026 re-election fight.
The state Assembly and Senate have both in recent years backed hiking income and corporate taxes, with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie even specifically saying he’d help move Mamdani’s agenda forward when he endorsed him.
Republican lawmakers predicted Hochul would inevitably bend and agree to hike taxes.
“This governor has shamelessly pandered to the radical left in the hopes that they will accept her. Whether it’s clueless Marxists like Mamdani or the climate con artists, she talks tough and then she folds,” said state Sen. George Borello (R-Chautauqua).
“I expect the same thing to happen if Mamdani becomes mayor. The tail will continue to wag the dog in Albany.”
Hochul’s awkward argument on the podcast was her latest cringey stab at damage control after she was greeted by a deafening chorus of “tax the rich” chants from Mamdani supporters at a Sunday rally.
She didn’t repeat her odd earlier claim that she thought the crowd at the rally was chanting “Let’s go Bills” — and instead admitted she “literally” heard them, but argued they’re all on the same side.
“We don’t have to agree with each other on everything, and we certainly don’t,” she said about Mamdani and his rowdy movement. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t stand there and embrace the moment and the energy.”
Hochul has suggested she’ll help work on policy goals she shares with the Queens assemblyman, such as “universal child care” and free buses, even as she contends with the Trump administration’s billions of dollars in cuts to funding flowing to the state.
“We’re not talking about new income taxes, I’ve been very clear on that,” Hochul said Thursday at an event railing against Republicans as benefits for 3 million SNAP recipients are set to run dry amid the federal shutdown.
“I’ve said there’s no new income taxes. I’m looking at ways to fund programs that are important to me like universal child care,” she said. “We’re very creative in state government. We’ll find a path to accomplish the goals we need to.”
The tightrope act comes as New York faces a $27 billion combined budget gap Democrats in Albany have already set up for themselves over the next three state spending plans — meaning Hochul will find it increasingly difficult to make everyone happy.
And her strategy of playing both sides could come back to bite her later, insiders said.
Even if Hochul is successful in warding off a Democratic primary challenge from the left, there’s no clear telling that Mamdani’s energetic base will turn out to vote for her in the general election — especially if she bucks him on his high-cost policy promises.
Republicans such as potential gubernatorial contender Rep. Elise Stefanik – who led Hochul by one point in a recent poll – could hammer her in the general election on raising taxes.
“Taxes are going to be the bane of Gov. Hochul’s existence if Mamdani wins,” said Bill O’Reilly, a conservative strategist.
“He and his DSA cohorts are going to want to raise taxes wherever possible, and the governor is the gatekeeper for that,” O’Reilly said. “If she raises them, voters will be furious. If she doesn’t she could be looking at a primary from a DSA member. Either way, she’ll have tax trouble.”
Republican lawmakers have already ripped Hochul for her wishy-washy, people-pleasing stance.
“Governor Hochul can’t keep pandering to the far left while pretending to be a fiscal moderate,” Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler told The Post Friday.
“Her so-called ‘creative’ funding ideas mean higher taxes, more spending, and fewer jobs.”
Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis argued “timid and weak” Democrats such as Hochul enabled a socialist takeover of their party that will harm New Yorkers.
“The governor is so afraid of her own shadow that she keeps shifting further and further left, now going as far to embrace socialism to protect herself ahead of next year’s primary,” she said.
New York has the worst tax climate in the US, according to a Tax Foundation study.
A Citizens Budget Commission report this year found that New York would’ve received another nearly $11 billion in tax revenue in 2022 if it had retained the same share of US billionaires it had in 2010.
“Productive New Yorkers that pay the bills in this state will continue to flee and those that are left here will shoulder an even greater burden of New York Democrats’ corrupt policies,” said Borello, the state senator.
By contrast, a Fiscal Policy Institute study found the richest New Yorkers are more likely to stay put in the state and aren’t swayed by taxes.
“Taxing the rich and the wealthiest corporations is politically popular, but it requires a clear leader who’s going to say that,” said Michael Kink, executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition, which advocates for raising taxes.
“And that’s where I have some hope that Zohran and Gov. Hochul together can make that case strongly.”
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