By Callahan Blackwood | Saturday, October 17, 2026
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman shared a stage at the Spectrum News NY1 studios in Chelsea on Tuesday, October 13, and they will not do it again. No second debate is scheduled. Moderators Errol Louis and Susan Arbetter gave them one evening to make their cases to New York voters, three weeks before Election Day. Below is what each candidate claimed that night, tested against the record.
Six claims. Three per candidate. Neither candidate wins on these pages.
Hochul on ICE: "Rogue agents roaming the streets"
Hochul attacked Blakeman's 287(g) agreement, which deputized Nassau County officers to enforce federal immigration law, saying it let "rogue agents roaming the streets."
The New York Post rated this mostly false. Nassau's arrangement was a formal, structured agreement, and nearly a dozen other New York localities had ICE relationships of their own, most limited to jail database checks. The "roaming" characterization doesn't match the program's design.
Hochul did not mention one additional fact: the argument is now legally moot. New York's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, signed May 27, 2026, bans 287(g) agreements statewide. The program she was describing no longer exists in New York.
Blakeman on fracking: "Slash utility bills in half"
Blakeman said fracking the Marcellus Shale would "slash utility bills in half."
The Post rated this highly unlikely on two grounds. First, New York's fracking ban was codified by the Legislature in 2021, after a 2014 executive order, which means a governor cannot reverse it unilaterally. It would require legislative action. Second, no sourced analysis supports a 50 percent reduction in utility bills. Blakeman did not identify one during the debate, and his campaign has not produced one since. The number is a claim without a source.
Hochul on the fired corrections officers: "You violated the law"
Hochul defended her decision to fire roughly 2,000 corrections officers during the 2025 strike. "They walked out the door and shut it," she said. "You violated the law. Shame on you." She added she would "sure as hell" fire them again.
The Post rated this half true. The Taylor Law does bar public employees from striking while under contract, so her legal argument has a foundation. But the picture is more complicated. Many of the fired officers said they were on pre-approved medical leave and were swept up by mistake, not out on a picket line. And the state corrections department confirmed that 848 of the 2,000 had been rehired as of November 2025, which suggests the administration itself recognized problems with some of those terminations. The law was on Hochul's side. The execution was not clean.
Blakeman on Hochul's record: A rating and license opposition
Blakeman noted that Hochul held an "A" rating from the NRA during her 2012 congressional race and opposed driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants in 2007.
The Post rated this true. Both positions are the reverse of where Hochul stands today. This is the rare debate claim that checks out completely. The record is the record.
Hochul on property taxes: 1998 and 1999
Hochul pressed Blakeman on votes he cast as a Nassau County legislator in 1998 and 1999 to raise property taxes.
Blakeman did not dispute the votes. His answer was to dismiss the premise: "Property taxes? You're going to talk about something I did 28 years ago."
Those votes are 27 and 28 years old. He has offered no explanation of why he cast them, what the context was, or how his position on property taxes has changed since then. The debate record on this claim is Hochul's facts and Blakeman's non-answer. Readers can decide what to make of the gap.
Blakeman on spending: The $8 billion comparison
Blakeman claimed the state "spends $8 billion on illegal immigrants vs. $4 billion on law enforcement."
This is Blakeman's claim, and the comptroller's data tells a different story. State comptroller figures reported after the debate put state asylum-seeker spending at approximately $3.9 billion committed across fiscal years 2023 through 2027, with New York City's costs tracked separately in other tallies. The comparison Blakeman offered mixes different pools of money from different governmental levels and time frames. His numbers do not hold up against the audited record.
What comes next
Hochul and Blakeman will not debate again. The October 13 debate, aired live on NY1 and Spectrum News statewide, was the only one. The New York Post's full fact-check from October 14 covers additional exchanges.
Starting Sunday, this desk publishes deep dives on each candidate's full record. Early voting opens Saturday, October 24. If you are voting in Dutchess County, the desk's full voting guide, including the October 24 deadline and everything after, is here. The ballot also carries two write-in candidates.
