Hochul refuses to pledge to keep NY taxes flat as she’s pressured to join Mamdani’s tax-the-rich crusade

Gov. Kathy Hochul refused to say if she’d buckle to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s crusade to “tax the rich” if reelected — offering instead a political word-salad when pressed on the matter.

The Democrat was asked Wednesday about her odd-couple relationship with the democratic socialist mayor who has been campaigning alongside her in the final days of the 2026 campaign, with a reporter asking her if anything “hinged” on Mamdani’s support.

“I will say this. A year ago I was out campaigning with the mayor. He has returned the favor and campaigned for me and I’m grateful for that,” Hochul told reporters at her Midtown office during an unrelated news conference.

Hochul was pressed for a more direct answer after the response, with a reporter asking if it was fair to assume she’d give Mamdani more next year after she had helped bail the mayor out of his first budget this year with state goodies that included a pied-a-terre tax on luxury second homes in the Big Apple.

“There are no quid pro clothes for us supporting each other I want to have a relationship with the mayor of New York,” she said, without still explicitly saying she wouldn’t hike taxes. “He wants to have a relationship with the governor of New York. And it’s all for the benefit of driving more confidence among New Yorkers in their government which was not there for a long time.

“I’m going to continue working in Partnership on the areas we agree and there are many.,” she said. “I’m going to continue to find a line but regardless of what my supporters or his supporters say, we know how to do this.”

The comments were a far cry from the hard line Hochul drew against Mamdani’s plans mere months ago — when the governor repeatedly vowed not to fall in with Hizzoner’s tax the rich rallying cry.

“We should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals,” Hochil told FOX 5 as recently as July.

“We should not be raising taxes on the companies that are creating the jobs and generating the revenue that helps us pay for the services that people in New York City come to rely on,” she added.

But her Wednesday exchange showed Hochul was taking a different approach days before the Nov. 3 midterms, where she’s hoping to cash in on Mamdani’s rabid base of young Big Apple voters to hold her office in Albany.

Hochul has a pronounced registration advantage over her opponent Blakeman, who is trailing by about 14 points at 54% to 40%, according to one poll. But Hochul has been aiming to use deeply blue NYC to offset Upstate New York’s red areas and help run up the score after she faced criticism for years ago for being a drag on downballot Dems.

The governor, who is seeking a second, full four-year term, has been trying to strike a delicate balance of harnessing the liberal wing of her party’s enthusiasm for Mamdani and other socialist candidates while appealing to the more moderate suburban corners of the state.

Hochul was notably booed by Mamdani supporters numerous times when they appeared at joint events, and she even recently admitted many of them might not be so happy about their new alliance.

“His supporters probably aren’t thrilled when they see us standing together,” Hochul told Politico Magazine this week, adding that Mamdani was “very pragmatic when it comes to getting things done.”

Mamdani began stumping with Hochul for the first time just last week, appearing with her at a brief Brooklyn walkabout Friday and then at a luncheon Sunday.

He also appeared in a TV spot bashing Blakeman, and offered praise for her at a Brooklyn press conference Wednesday.

“It’s been a real pleasure to be going alongside Governor Hochul and canvassing for her reelection,” Mamdani said, adding that his free childcare program would “not have been possible” without her support.

But like Mamdani’s Hochul-booing fans on the street, the mayor’s cronies in the Democratic Socialists of America establishment have also had their claws out for the governor from the start.

The party notably claimed in May that “people will die” because of Hochul’s refusal to back Mamdani’s rich tax, saying she “cowers to the donor class” while “democratic socialists fight for the working class.”

“We’re up against an undemocratic bully in Albany & the oligarchs that back her. But our wins show that movement pressure CAN deliver for our communities,” the leftist party said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Blakeman hammered Hochul in TV spots for what he characterized as flip-flopping policies.

“Hochul raised taxes before, she’ll raise them again,” a newly unveiled ad said. “Only your vote for Bruce Blakeman will stop them.”