Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, issued a warning on Friday morning that supporting New York Governor Kathy Hochul for a second term in 2026 could spell "impending disaster and defeat" for Democrats in the state.
Torres has represented the Bronx since 2021, having most recently won his incumbent seat in New York's 15th Congressional District earlier this month with 76.6 percent of the vote.
He has not directly rejected the idea of running for governor of the state and criticized Hochul, also a Democrat who has served as New York's first female governor since 2021, by calling her the "new Joe Biden."
"Kathy Hochul is the new Joe Biden. She may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee. A Democratic incumbent who is less popular in New York than Donald Trump is in grave danger of losing to a Republican in 2026–an outcome not seen in 30 years," Torres wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.
The congressman's post continued: "Waiting until it's too late gave us a Republican President in 2024 and could give us a Republican Governor in 2026. Let's avoid repeating history and avoid sleepwalking toward impending disaster and defeat."
President Joe Biden, originally the Democratic presidential nominee, dropped out of the race just over 100 days before the election, placing Vice President Kamala Harris on the ticket to face off against now President-elect Donald Trump.
Newsweek has reached out to Torres' press team and Hochul's office for comment via email on Friday.
Hochul, who was previously the state's lieutenant governor, first assumed the office by stepping in after then-Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal. She ran for a full four-year term in 2022 against then-GOP Representative Lee Zeldin, garnering 53 percent of the vote in a tight race.
The Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, Zeldin, gained significant ground in New York, narrowing the race to just over 6 percentage points.
Earlier this month, Trump named Zeldin as the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, it is unlikely Zeldin will run against Hochul for New York governor in 2026. Hochul has already announced she will seek reelection.
However, a 2024Siena College poll of 1,003 likely voters conducted from September 11 to 16 found Hochul with a 34 percent favorability rating and a 39 percent job approval rating, the lowest recorded in Siena's polling of her tenure. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
The same poll found Trump with a 39 percent favorability rating, five points ahead of Hochul. Trump did not win New York in the 2024 presidential election, garnering 44 percent to Harris' 56 percent. However, Trump gained ground in the reliably blue state, previously increasing his vote share by over six percentage points from 37.7 in 2020.
Meanwhile, Torres told Spectrum News NY1 on Wednesday that "we have a leadership crisis in America, and nowhere is it more profound than in New York."
"Part of the story of the election, is an indictment of misgovernance in New York State and New York City," he said in the interview, adding that it was a "vote of no confidence in the leadership of New York state."
A Republican gubernatorial candidate has not won in the state since 2002, when Republican incumbent George Pataki won his second reelection, serving a third term. Democrats also currently control the state's Senate and House.
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