New York Republican candidates for governor, Congress, state assembly and state senate spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at a rally in Elmira on Wednesday.
The rally was held downtown at the Elk’s Lodge. It was meant to showcase the GOP ticket and get voters to the polls for Election Day.
Titled the “Fire Kathy Hochul Rally,” the campaign trip featured governor hopeful Bruce Blakeman and New York’s 23rd Congressional District representative, Nick Langworthy, with stops in Owego, Elmira, Hornell and Olean.
Local Republican state lawmakers opened the rally in Elmira. Incumbent Republican Chris Friend who represents Assembly District 124, incumbent Republican Tom O’Mara who represents Senate District 58 and incumbent Republican Phil Palmesano who represents Assembly District 132, all spoke during the event.
“Are you tired of your utility bills, nearly 70 percent of the national average?” asked Palmesano of the standing-room-only crowd.
“That’s okay, because help is on the way,” he coached the audience.
It was an attempt at a call and response for audience participation.
The back and forth continued with topics such as “energy policy taking away your choice,” criminal justice policies that “handcuff the law enforcement officers,” and New Yorkers and businesses leaving the state “for better opportunities.”
Palmesano would start with, “Are you tired of [fill in the blank]? That’s okay because” and lead the crowd to respond “Help is on the way.”
Some attendees enthusiastically joined the cadence.
Langworthy is campaigning to hang on to the district seat in a heavily contested race with Democratic challenger Aaron Gies.
He told the large crowd of supporters that Governor Kathy Hochul wants to take away local zoning authority to control where data centers and renewable energy projects are built.
“They’re going to put them right in our backyards. Mark my words,” he said. “Give this woman four more years and you’re going to have every project that you didn’t want, you didn’t get a vote on, she’s going to sight it directly in our community.”
In July, Hochul set a moratorium on any new data center builds. It is a temporary pause on state environmental permits for up to one year to create a regulatory framework for ratepayer, environmental and power grid protections.
Earlier this year, Hochul also announced the “Let Them Build” plan.
According to a press release, this plan will allow housing and infrastructure projects a quicker process to speed up construction while maintaining local zoning requirements.
Langworthy, who is serving his second term, was the state Republican Committee Chair before becoming a member of Congress.
During his speech to rallygoers, Langworthy told a large crowd of supporters that Republicans are “barnstorming the Southern Tier” and implored them to go to the polls.
“Everybody out to the polls. There’s no excuse. This is our last shot, folks. In the future the math doesn’t work. This is our chance and you have six days to get it done. And we need the Southern Tier to come out louder and prouder than it ever has before.“
A Siena Poll published Wednesday shows Hochul leading in the race for governor with Hochul at 54 percent and Blakeman at 40 percent.
Blakeman told the crowd the state is spending $8 billion on providing “free food, free housing, free transportation” to “legal migrants” and expressed one of his first priorities in office if he is elected.
“On day one, as governor of this state, I will sign an executive order. We are no longer a sanctuary state,” said Blakeman.
According to the state comptroller’s office, the state plans to spend just below $4 billion for asylum seekers from 2023 through 2027 combined.
Services include resettlement, legal assistance, housing, health care, translation services and transportation.
People seeking asylum are foreign nationals either arriving at the U.S. border or who are already in the U.S.
Asylum is a protection granted to a refugee “unable or unwilling to return to their home country and cannot obtain protection in that country, due to past persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted in the future ‘on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,’” according to the American Immigration Council and the Refugee Act of 1980.
According to the Pew Research Center, as of Sept. 30, the U.S. admitted 10,258 refugees. In 2025 that number was 38,102 and 100,034 in 2024. The refugee admittance this year set by the federal government is 17,500.
Early voting is happening now through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 3.