Gov. Hochul got her budget priorities. Will they win her reelection votes?

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul got much of what she wanted in a $254 billion state budget agreement this week.

Now comes the hard part: selling it to voters.

Hochul is up for re-election in 2026. Her budget priorities of “affordability” and “public safety” – which she repeats over and over again — were clearly designed to endear her to voters who have major concerns about crime and rising costs.

“ To the people of New York: This budget's for you,” Hochul said Monday, echoing the old Budweiser tagline.

Among the policies Hochul successfully got in the budget:

• “Inflation refund” checks of up to $400 to middle-class New Yorkers
• A statewide ban on student smartphone use during the school day
• Changes that will make it easier to force mentally ill people off the streets and into treatment
• A new charge for people who commit a crime while hiding their identity with a mask

But poll after poll shows Hochul has struggled to connect with voters. Frequently, voters say they support many of the governor’s proposals — including her budget priorities — but they’re far less bullish on the governor herself.

The governor says she’s determined to claim credit.

“Now it's my job to go out and let voters know what we're doing for them,” Hochul said Tuesday at an Albany-area preschool, where she touted her affordability agenda as part of a post-budget-deal victory lap.

“This is government at its best,” she said. “We can take a problem, we can solve it. And the most important next step is to let them know what we did for them.”

Hochul is the only major-party candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial race so far. But there are plenty of people flirting with a run, including Rep. Ritchie Torres and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado on the Democratic side and Rep. Elise Stefanik, Rep. Michael Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman on the Republican side.

Assemblymember David Weprin, a longtime Queens Democrat, said “time will tell” if the budget deal will help Hochul’s electoral prospects.

“ I think the public generally supports most of the items and, in the end, I think it'll help her,” he said.

Jimmy Vielkind contributed reporting.

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