McCAUGHEY: New York State needs new direction to achieve prosperity

Go for the green — money in your wallets and a future for your kids.

Published Oct 16, 2026  •  Last updated 24 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Democratic gubernatorial candidate, current Gov. Governor Kathy Hochul and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman face off in the only scheduled debate ahead of the November New York gubernatorial election at the Spectrum News NY1 studios on October 13, 2026 in New York City. Photo by Pool /Getty Images

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Upstate New Yorkers must be suicidal or divorced from reality to support Kathy Hochul for another term as governor. The upstate counties are mired in deep poverty, struggling with some of the most tragic child poverty rates in the entire nation.

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This poverty is not due to weather or an act of God. The cause is cynical bad decisions by politicians, chief among them Hochul and her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo robbed the Southern Tier counties of a chance at a booming economy and low energy costs when he banned fracking in 2014, despite New York having one of the world’s largest natural gas deposits.

Hochul doubled down on that mistake and now is sabotaging the region’s second chance at prosperity by putting a stranglehold on AI data centres, the single-largest generator of blue-collar jobs in America.

Upstate New Yorkers have a far better choice for governor in Bruce Blakeman, currently county executive of Nassau County, which has the state’s fastest-growing economy. He knows what he’s doing.

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Hochul, Blakeman lead in different polls

Hochul is ahead in the polls statewide, but upstate, Blakeman leads 51% to 43%, according to the latest Marist poll. His lead ought to be a lot larger, considering the suffering Democrats have inflicted on the region.

Childhood poverty tops 40% in Syracuse, Troy and Binghamton. That’s higher than in the Bronx — and nearly the highest anywhere in the United States. In Rochester, it’s almost as severe.

Rural counties like Cattaraugus and Chautauqua, along the border with Pennsylvania, are also in deep distress, according to U.S. Census poverty figures. Yet, immediately across the border, where hydraulic fracking is permitted, it’s boom time.

Blakeman vows to open New York to fracking. He says that in Pennsylvania, “They’re getting jobs. They’re prosperous. On the Pennsylvania side of the border, they’re driving brand-new Cadillac Escalades. On the New York side of the border, 25-year-old rusted-out pickup trucks.”

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New Yorkers have missed out on fracking jobs, which pay $150,000 on average. And overall, the fracking ban has made every New York household in the region $27,000 poorer, per the Heritage Foundation.

To make matters worse, on July 14, Hochul signed a one-year moratorium on large data centre projects for New York, followed by stiff requirements that will make it all but impossible for the centres to ever operate in the state.

“If we’re saying to them, they can’t use natural gas, they’re not going to come here, period,” said New York state Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R-Schuyler), referring to a requirement that all data centres use renewable energy by 2040.

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Ban on data centres ‘crazy’ says Blakeman

Hochul is obsessed with the green climate agenda, but she couldn’t care less about putting green in New Yorkers’ wallets. To upstate New Yorkers, desperate for economic opportunities, Hochul’s moratorium is a wrecking ball. Data centres were proposed in Erie County, Chautauqua County and Genesee County— all areas of severe economic depression.

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Data centres are now far outpacing hiring for housing, manufacturing or health care, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, in the Midwest, some trade unions are abandoning Democratic candidates who oppose AI data centres and supporting their Republican rivals.

Blakeman calls Hochul’s ban “crazy,” and he’s right.

But the Democrats’ idea of solving upstate poverty, including child poverty, is government handouts, not jobs. In 2021, the state legislature passed the Child Poverty Reduction Act, establishing yet another government council with the goal of cutting the state’s child poverty rate in half over the decade. The council’s pathetic suggestions included more housing assistance, more food assistance and more cash assistance to the poor “regardless of where they were born.”

In other words, government programs to buy votes by keeping more people dependent on the Democratic Party and perpetuating child poverty for another generation. A morally reprehensible alternative to opening upstate to growth industries like fracking and AI.

Upstate voters can turn this election around and chart a new course for themselves by voting for Blakeman. Go for the green — money in your wallets and a future for your kids.

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