Rep. Ritchie Torres Friday said Gov. Hochul is as widely unpopular as President Biden and urged Democrats to consider showing her the exit before a 2026 reelection fight.
The Bronx lawmaker, who appears to be considering a primary challenge to the governor, said Democrats should be clear-eyed about just how difficult it will be for Hochul to win over voters even in deep-blue New York.
“I fear Hochul may be the new Biden,” Torres told Politico. “She may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities in 2026.”
Torres called on Democrats to speak out loudly and early about Hochul’s woes to prevent a scenario where they wind up stuck with a losing candidate or one who waits too long to bow out.
He repeated the Monday morning quarterbacking by some national Democrats that Biden should have been elbowed aside earlier and that the failure to do so opened the door to President-elect Trump’s big win.
“In the case of Biden, instead of speaking out early, we waited until it was too late,” Torres said. “Let’s avoid repeating history and let’s avoid sleepwalking toward disaster and defeat.”
Torres vowed to embark on what he called a “listening tour” of the suburbs and upstate, where he admits he is not widely known.
The trailblazing gay Puerto Rican lawmaker recently won a third term representing a very deep-blue district stretching from the South Bronx to Riverdale. He has made little effort to hide his ambition to seek higher office.
Torres said Hochul “may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities in 2026.” (AP)
A spokeswoman for Hochul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hochul, a former Buffalo-area congresswoman, was thrust into the Albany spotlight when she succeeded then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo when he stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations.
She ran an underwhelming race for a first full term in 2022, barely eking out a 6% win over ex-Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island.
Hochul irked some suburban allies by initially shooting down the congestion pricing plan, then reversing course to back a scaled-back version of the toll plan to boost transit.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a Westchester County Republican, is openly flirting with a GOP run to oust Hochul. Even progressive Democrats say he would make a formidable challenger.
Several Democrats, including others from the city and across the ideological spectrum, might jump into a primary race if Hochul stepped aside.