Rhetoric in New York governor's race heats up with Election Day 4 weeks away
With Election Day just four weeks away, the rhetoric on the campaign trail in New York is heating up.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared in the Dutchess County town of Fishkill on Tuesday, while 40 miles away in Westchester's Chappaqua, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman appeared with Rep. Mike Lawler at a news conference.
Lawler, who is running for reelection in the 17th Congressional District, which occupies a large area of the northern suburbs, slammed the governor's immigration and cashless bail policies.
"'If anybody commits a crime, if you call me, I'll be the first one to call ICE and send them back home,'" Lawler said, mocking Hochul.
He and a tag team of Republicans claim those policies have led to the release of nearly 7,000 illegal immigrants who have committed a laundry list of crimes.
"I want to repeat this: New York, under Kathy Hochul, released 6,947 criminal illegal aliens after ICE asked them to be held," Lawler said. "In what f****** world does anybody think that that's acceptable?"
"Kathy, I want you to listen carefully to this one: a 14-year-old girl was raped in my county last month by an illegal migrant," Blakeman said.
Lawler and Blakeman were joined by the family of Sheridan Gorman, a Westchester County native who was allegedly shot and killed in Chicago by an illegal immigrant who had previously been deported.
Meanwhile, Hochul, who has been traveling around the state to talk about her achievements, held a roundtable with Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Pat Ryan to talk about her moratorium on data centers, including one that local officials have opposed.
"I've imposed a three-year moratorium so they can figure this all out," Hochul said.
When asked about the Republican news conference, she expressed sympathy for the Gorman family and defended her laws.
"No parent should ever be exposed to the kind of pain that this Gorman family has had to endure. It is horrible to contemplate that," she said. "But nothing in New York state law prevents cooperation with ICE. Our law enforcement works with ICE to remove violent criminals."
But while the governor was chatting with concerned locals, her campaign put out a press release slamming Blakeman's fundraising, claiming he sought matching funds for thousands of dollars in donations he wasn't entitled to.
According to recent filings, Hochul has a massive cash advantage over Blakeman. Between her campaign account and the state party account, she has more than $33 million to spend in the next four weeks. Blakeman has just $178,000 left in the bank right now.
