Vote 2026: Cost of living is top issue in NY and CT governor's races, but most voters aren't blaming Democrats
Polls give NY Gov. Kathy Hochul and CT Gov. Ned Lamont double-digit leads, despite Republicans' push to blame them for the region's chronically high cost of living.
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With early voting now underway, polls show that the tri-state area’s chronically high cost of living is voters’ top concern.
Despite Republicans' attempts to blame Democratic Govs. Kathy Hochul and Ned Lamont, both are leading by double digits in their reelection bids.
COSTS GOING UP
Rising prices mean that Christine Keane, of Darien, Connecticut, has a choice to make every time she gets behind the wheel.
“I think I’ve become more conscious of where I drive, to kind of decide to do things in the area, as opposed to kind of go, come back, go, come back,” she said.
Unleaded gasoline now averages $4.40 a gallon in New York and $4.31 in Connecticut, according to AAA. Fuel has jumped 40% since President Donald Trump took office, largely driven by his war in Iran, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But it’s not just gas.
Ground beef costs 18% more while new cars are up 4% – now averaging more than $50,000 for the first time in history.
“It puts a strain on your budget,” said Olivier Jean-Pierre, of Norwalk, Connecticut. “You’re just trying to make ends meet.”
TRI-STATE ESPECIALLY COSTLY
The New York City region is particularly expensive. Prices here are 4.3% higher than a year ago, compared to 2.9% in Chicago and Atlanta, 1.9% in Tampa-St. Petersburg and 1.3% in Houston, according to BLS data.
Republicans Bruce Blakeman in New York and Ryan Fazio in Connecticut say that's because of decisions in Albany and Hartford – not the nation's capital.
"Tonight, you can expect Gov. Lamont to blame those failures on Washington, D.C.,” Fazio said during a Thursday night debate. “Gov. Lamont had eight years to fix it. Instead, he broke his promises and made every single one of those problems worse."
Likewise, Blakeman has slammed Hochul for New York City's new congestion pricing tax and rising electric bills.
“You like to talk about Donald Trump all the time because you don't want to talk about your record,” Blakeman said during a debate last week. “Because it’s a record of misery and failure.”
THE TRUMP EFFECT
Lamont and Hochul blame rising prices on Trump's foreign tariffs and the Iranian conflict, now nearing its ninth month with no end in sight.
“Which is it that makes him so great?” Hochul asked Blakeman during a debate last week. “Is it the high utility costs, the high grocery costs, the high gas costs?”
Most voters appear to agree. Recent Quinnipiac University polls have Hochul leading by 14 points and Lamont ahead by 20 points.
"Ned Lamont looks headed to a very comfortable victory,” said poll director Doug Schwartz. “This is the biggest lead a candidate for governor in Connecticut has had in two decades since Jodi Rell led John DeStefano by 24 points in Quinnipiac University's November 1, 2006 poll.”
Both surveys listed cost of living as the most important issue.
Political analysts said Republicans nationwide are facing serious headwinds this year, especially with voters who typically tune out state and local elections.
“You have, at the national level, a consistent narrative that links high gas prices to a war in Iran. You have high grocery costs because President Trump didn’t deliver on his campaign promises,” said Dr. Gayle Alberda, a former GOP consultant who now teaches at Fairfield University. “Those narratives are sticking, and I think they’re sticking better than the narratives that the Democrats did it.”
