Blakeman Launches Eight-City Tour Before New York Election

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is spending the final 48 hours before Election Day flying to roughly eight New York cities, a closing push his campaign is billing as a last chance to reach voters before polls open Tuesday, according to the New York Post.

What is Blakeman doing in the final two days before the election?

Blakeman kicked off the tour Sunday morning with a campaign event on Long Island, his home turf, before making brief stops in Oswego, Albany and Rensselaer County later that day and returning to Long Island for the night, the Post reported. On Monday he planned to swing through Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton, ending the sweep in Manhattan the day before the election. "We are leaving no stone left unturned," Blakeman told supporters, donors and fellow Republican officials at a golf course in Northport, according to the outlet.

Which cities are on the itinerary, and why those specific stops?

The route covers Long Island, Oswego, Albany, Rensselaer County, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Manhattan — a mix of upstate and downstate markets, several of which the Post describes as leaning Democratic. Blakeman is flying to each location for brief appearances rather than holding extended rallies, the paper reported, a format built around speed and geographic reach rather than crowd size at any single stop.

How far behind is Blakeman in the polls heading into Election Day?

Blakeman is trailing incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul by double digits, according to multiple major polls cited by the Post. The paper did not report a specific margin from any single poll, but it noted that registered Democrats have been outnumbering Republicans in early voting statewide and on Long Island, a traditional GOP stronghold, based on unofficial election data.

Despite the gap, Blakeman told the Northport crowd he believes the race is a "dead heat" and predicted Republicans will surge at the polls on Election Day. "Forget about the university-woke-polls," he said, according to the Post's account of the event.

Why would a trailing candidate spend the campaign's last hours flying statewide instead of focusing on friendly territory?

Blakeman's campaign is betting the tour can reach New Yorkers who are disillusioned with the race and considering not voting at all, the Post reported. The strategy rests on a pattern the paper describes as consistent across several studies: Republicans are less likely to vote early and tend to cast ballots in person on Election Day. If that holds, a late push built around Election Day turnout — rather than the early-vote period Democrats have dominated — could matter more to Blakeman's chances than it would in a race where both parties vote early at similar rates.

What do early voting numbers and recent surveys show about where the race stands?

A survey by pollster Convos found that 83% of Long Islanders have already decided how they will vote, with nothing likely to change their minds before Election Day, according to the Post. That poll did not measure head-to-head support between Hochul and Blakeman, so it does not by itself indicate who is ahead on Long Island — only that the pool of persuadable voters there is small this close to the vote.

By the numbers

• 8 cities on Blakeman's closing-weekend itinerary, per the campaign's schedule reported by the Post
• 48 hours allotted to complete the full sweep, ending in Manhattan the day before the election
• Double digits: Blakeman's polling deficit against Hochul, according to multiple major polls cited by the Post
• 83%: share of Long Island voters who told pollster Convos they have already decided their vote, per the same survey

What happens next?

New York's general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Blakeman's tour concludes in Manhattan the day before voting, after which the outcome will depend on whether Election Day turnout among Republican-leaning voters — who the Post reports are less likely to vote early — is enough to close a gap that multiple major polls currently put in double digits. Hochul's campaign was not quoted in the Post's report on the tour.