By Richard Lee

Bruce Blakeman and Kathy Hochul appear to have gotten the message

Thirty-four years after political consultant James Carville declared, “It’s the economy, stupid,” Republican Bruce Blakeman and Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul are focusing on economic issues in their campaigns for governor of New York.

An informal study conducted by students in a Media and Democracy course at St. Bonaventure University found that the economy was by far the most frequent topic of the candidates’ posts on X. 

The students tracked and coded the candidates’ posts by topic during the month of April. 

Of the 102 posts on X, slightly more than half (52) were about the economy. Posts on public safety were a distant second at 19. Rounding out the list were infrastructure (5), immigration (3), healthcare (2), and environment and transportation, each with 1.

Of the two candidates, Blakeman had a heavier focus on economic issues. Thirty-eight of his 63 posts (60.3%) were on the economy. Hochul posted 39 times, and 14 of her posts (35.8%) were on economic topics.

Focusing on the economy may not be the best strategy for Blakeman, given his close ties to President Donald Trump and the state of today’s economy. History suggests that Blakeman might fare better by attacking Hochul on public safety issues. That’s what Republican Lee Zeldin did four years ago. He didn’t win the govenorship, but he came much closer than expected.

Richard Lee, executive director of the Jandoli Institute, covered politics and government as a reporter and later served as Deputy Director of Communication for two New Jersey governors.

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