A newly formed political action committee is promising to pour millions of dollars into New York’s gubernatorial race in an effort to elect Bruce Blakeman, with plans to attack Gov. Kathy Hochul over her ties to “Zohran Mamdani and the radical Marxist, Jihadi wing of the Democratic Party.”
The PAC, called “Defend Empire State,” was launched to bolster the Republican’s bid to unseat Hochul. It was created by Jason Meister, a President Trump ally who previously ran the “Defend NYC” PAC, which took aim at Mayor Zohran Mamdani during last year’s race for City Hall.
“We’re going to initiate the most aggressive campaign to defeat Kathy Hochul and the Marxist, Communist wing of the Democratic Party Hochul is an enabler of,” Meister, a risk insurance specialist, told The Post after filing the group’s registration with the state Board of Elections.
Meister described Blakeman as a “common sense, right-of-center” contender who, in his view, would make a strong governor.
“Blakeman will be a check on Mamdani. Hochul isn’t,” Meister said.
Campaign finance records from last year’s mayoral contest indicate Meister has connections to deep-pocketed donors. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and Airbnb co-founder Joseph Gebbia each contributed $1 million to his Defend NYC PAC in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Because the pro-Blakeman operation is structured as an independent expenditure Super PAC, it can raise unlimited amounts of money.
“Hochul is an accidental governor,” Meister said, pointing to the former lieutenant governor’s rise to the state’s top office after Andrew Cuomo resigned in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations.
“We’re going to expose her record and her relationship with Mamdani.”
Meister said the race has implications beyond New York.
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“This is a national conversation. We don’t want the radical Marxist contagion to metastasize to other cities and states,” he said.
Meister serves on Trump’s advisory board and is not afraid to stir up controversy himself.
He told The Post last year that the Jan. 6, 2001, riots at the Capitol should be declared a national holiday.
“That would be the biggest way to honor these American heroes who risked their lives, freedom and honor to protest what they perceived to be a stolen election,” Meister said at the time.
Blakeman could use the outside cash.
The Hochul campaign and the state Democratic Party combined have a nearly 4-to-1 financial advantage over Blakeman and the New York Republican Party, with $40 million to spend for the home stretch.
Another pro-Blakeman Super PAC called “Strong and Safe New York,” which is bankrolled by Knicks owner James Dolan, is running a million-dollar ad campaign slamming the incumbent governor.
In response, Hochul’s campaign launched its own multi-million dollar ad offensive last week that links Blakeman to Trump, describing her rival as “100% MAGA” and claiming that he’ll “always put Trump ahead of you.”
Trump has a 60% job disapproval rate in New York, according to a recent Siena University poll.
Hochul, 67, defeated Republican Lee Zeldin, now the US Environmental Protection Agency administrator, by 6 percentage points in 2022. She is now seeking a second full, four-year term.
Blakeman, 70, is the current Nassau County executive.
