Now it's NY: new poll gives lead to GOP's Stefanik over Dem incumbent Gov. Hochul | Eastern NC Now

First it was California, where the Emerson College poll found Republican Steve Hilton in the lead in their governor's race.  Now a poll in New York state gives the Republican challenger the lead over the Democrat incumbent for governor.

In the statewide race for Governor of New York, the independent poll by the Manhattan Institute puts Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik ahead of Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul by one point, 43% to 42%.  Maybe this is the Mahdani effect scaring upstate voters.  Hochul is expected to be primaried by her lieutentant governor, and the poll for the general election on that race gives Stefanik a 6 point lead if he is the Democrat nominee instead of Hochul.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/10/28/poll-elise-stefanik-leads-kathy-hochul-in-deep-blue-new-york-as-socialist-mamdani-tops-mayoral-field/

New York and California are two heavily Democrat states, so the fact that polls are showing Republicans in the lead for their 2026 governor's races is astounding.