New York holds its general election for governor on November 3, 2026. Since Election Desk last covered this race in January, both major parties have completed their nominating tickets, held uncontested primaries, and locked in the November ballot lineup. Here’s where things stand.
The ballot is set
The June 23 primary produced no surprises: both Governor Kathy Hochul and Republican Bruce Blakeman ran unopposed for their party nominations. That outcome traces back to a pair of withdrawals earlier in the year — Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik dropped her campaign in December 2025, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado ended his primary challenge to Hochul on February 10 after struggling to gain traction against an incumbent who had just locked up major progressive and party endorsements.
Under a rule change enacted before this cycle, New York now requires gubernatorial candidates to run on a single ticket with their lieutenant governor pick through both the primary and general election, rather than nominating the two offices separately. That forced both remaining campaigns to finalize running mates over the winter:
- Kathy Hochul (D) replaced her sitting lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, with Adrienne Adams, the former New York City Council speaker, once Delgado launched his own campaign against her. The pairing is the state’s first all-woman major-party ticket.
- Bruce Blakeman (R) selected Todd Hood, the Madison County sheriff, after a brief public scramble in which his first choice for the job, Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino, turned down the offer just before the state GOP’s nominating convention.
The general election field
New York’s cross-endorsement system means several third parties will also appear on the ballot, though most are tied to the same two tickets rather than fielding independent contenders:
- Hochul–Adams will appear on the Democratic line.
- Blakeman–Hood will appear on both the Republican and Conservative Party lines.
- Larry Sharpe, a business consultant and repeat third-party candidate, is running with Shannon Joy Bones under a “Coalition” ballot line.
- The Working Families Party is running placeholder candidates, attorneys Amy Taylor and Joshua Goldfein, on its own line rather than cross-endorsing Hochul this cycle.
- The Prohibition Party has designated Jonathan Makeley as its candidate; a running mate had not been finalized as of this writing.
Where the race stands
Hochul enters the fall with structural advantages: New York Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two-to-one statewide, and her campaign holds a substantial financial edge. Nonpartisan handicappers rated the race Solid Democratic earlier this year, though that rating warrants rechecking given how the numbers below have moved since.
Public polling has been volatile rather than steadily trending in one direction. Siena College’s tracking poll — the most consistent independent survey in the race — showed Hochul’s lead over Blakeman at roughly 26 points in February, narrowing to 13 points in March, then widening back to 16 points in May and 20 points in June. Since then, polls sponsored by groups aligned with each campaign have told very different stories: a Blakeman-aligned survey put the race at 4 points in mid-July, while other polls released around the same time showed Hochul ahead by anywhere from 6 to 20 points. That spread likely reflects differences in methodology and sponsor as much as real movement in the underlying race, and no fresh independent, non-partisan poll had confirmed the tighter partisan numbers as of this writing. Blakeman has performed better with independent voters in most surveys than Lee Zeldin did at a comparable point in the 2022 race, which Hochul ultimately won by about six points.
What’s next
With both tickets finalized, the race moves into its general-election phase. New York’s certified candidate list becomes final following the July filing deadline for minor parties; barring a successful ballot challenge, the November matchup is Hochul-Adams versus Blakeman-Hood, with Sharpe-Bones, the Working Families placeholder ticket, and Makeley’s Prohibition Party bid also appearing on the ballot.
Sources: New York State Board of Elections, Ballotpedia, Siena College Research Institute polling, City & State New York, NBC News/AP primary results, Politics1 candidate directory.
Election Desk 
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