New York gubernatorial debate heats up with Blakeman, Hochul feuding over Trump, asylum status, shooting on ice.

New York's gubernatorial race heated up Tuesday as Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Brad Blakeman clashed on the debate stage.

Blakeman and Hochul clash over Trump, energy costs in debate

Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Brad Blakeman claimed that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to talk about President Donald Trump, not her record, in Tuesday's heated debate. (Credit: Spectrum News NY1)

New York's gubernatorial race heated up Tuesday as Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Brad Blakeman squared off on the debate stage as the two clashed over President Donald Trump, recent shootings and recent ICE inflation.

The debate began with a question from the candidates about the performance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which was outraged in New York City last week after the shooting of a Dominican national who the Department of Homeland Security said was carrying out legal orders in a targeted operation in the Bronx. The 5-year-old boy who was inside Oscar Bergal's vehicle was not injured.

Blakeman, a Republican, said: "Kathy Hochul asked ICE to release this criminal. The question New Yorkers should be asking is what was this man doing in New York in the first place? It's because Kathy Hochul made us a sanctuary state."

"Think about it. This man came into the country illegally. He's been convicted of a crime. He's accused of selling drugs and poison to our children. And he's a criminal. Is this who Kathy Hochul is defending?" Blakeman continued. "I have a cooperation agreement with ICE until Kathy Hochul said we could no longer cooperate with ICE. We removed over 2,000 undocumented immigrants from our county with criminal records of rape, attempted murder, robbery, theft, drug dealing, car theft, gang activity. And that's because we cooperated with ICE and did not attack a school, a hospital, a daycare center, or a church. If you cooperate with federal law enforcement, the community is safer. "This is what I did. That's why things like this happen."

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman face off in the only scheduled debate before New York's November gubernatorial election on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in New York. (Anna Connors/New York Times Pool)

Hochul called Blakeman's response a "non-response" because "he refused to condemn what ICE did."

"So he's basically saying in New York State, if ICE agents shoot cars, shoot vehicles with guns, without knowing who's inside and they can kill a 5-year-old, it's fine." If that doesn't shock everyone's conscience — and it should shock his — that he says, that's fine, ICE is going to do it. I oversee over 500 police agencies in New York State, over half a million arrests each year. You don't act like this. ICE is out of control. It's out of control in Nassau County."

Blakeman pushed back, saying, "This would never have happened" but for Hochul's "sanctuary policy."

Blakeman added, "You have invited criminals to come into our state and prey on our communities. And now you're not going to allow local law enforcement to work with ICE on a regular basis, like we do in my county.''

As part of his rebuttal, Hochul said, “I have the right to respond to this because it is so absurd. I've said from the president down that New York is not a haven for criminals, it's not a haven for criminals.

The two candidates also clashed over Trump and the state of the US economy.

"He promised to lower energy costs. He promised to lower food costs. And you know what? It's all happened under your friend Donald Trump, that you're the president of the Donald Trump fan club. It's absurd how much you praise him. My God," Hochul told Blakeman. "Well, what he's done is raise gas prices and energy prices and the cost of tariffs has raised everything in the state. If you've bought groceries lately, my God, people are suffering. And they don't have to be. Why are we at war with the rest of the world?"

"You like to talk about Donald Trump all the time because you don't want to talk about your history," Blakeman replied.

"Right now I'm talking about my record," Hochul said.

"Because it's a record of misery and failure," Blakeman continued. "The highest taxes, utility rates that are 70 percent higher than the national average. But let me say something about Donald Trump. Donald Trump is my friend. He has endorsed me, but so has Bonnie Lautenberg, a liberal Democrat whose husband, Frank, served in the United States Senate and was a pillar of the Democratic Party. Actress Debra Messing, who is a liberal Democrat and supports me because she trusts me to create safer communities and improve the quality of life in New York. Pardon."

"Okay, you got two votes," Hochul said. Good for you.

Bipartisan senators called on Trump to rescind the Russian diesel deal, calling it a "betrayal" of America's allies.