James Dolan, the billionaire owner of the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden, has become the largest Republican donor in New York's governor's race, after years of funneling money to Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Dolan donated $1.4 million this year to committees supporting Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee challenging Hochul, Just the News reported. The shift is striking: Dolan previously gave $2 million to a Madison Square Garden-linked super PAC that historically backed moderate Democrats, Hochul among them.
That same Madison Square Garden super PAC has now begun transferring money into a separate super PAC that is running ads for Blakeman. The second PAC was originally launched to support former GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik's brief gubernatorial campaign before she exited the race.
The advertising effort is already well underway. A super PAC called "Strong and Safe New York," backed by Dolan, has spent more than $1 million on ads attacking Hochul and boosting Blakeman, the New York Post reported. One ad, titled "Get Outta Town," seized on Hochul's own past comments urging New Yorkers to leave the state, and turned them into a case against her record on taxes and affordability.
That line of attack is not hard to understand. New York's cost of living and tax burden have driven residents and businesses out of the state for years. When a sitting governor's own words can be recycled into an opposition ad without alteration, the problem is not the ad, it is the record.
Hochul's campaign pushed back. Spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki fired at Blakeman's own record:
"Bruce Blakeman jacked up property taxes in Nassau County not once but twice, and brags about how expensive housing costs are on his watch, while Governor Hochul has put money back in New Yorkers' pockets."
Hochul still holds a commanding fundraising edge. Her campaign reported $21 million on hand, plus another $22 million sitting in the state Democratic Party's account. Blakeman's side has roughly $11 million total. Independent polling from Siena College shows Hochul leading by double digits, though a Blakeman-allied poll claims the gap is only four points.
Dolan's rise as the GOP's top donor in New York comes as one of the party's most prominent benefactors has stepped aside. Ronald Lauder, the billionaire cosmetics heir, ceased political giving this year. Four years ago, Lauder poured more than $11 million into boosting then-GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin's gubernatorial campaign. Zeldin lost, and Lauder's wallet has apparently closed.
That vacuum matters. New York Republicans have struggled to fund competitive statewide campaigns for years, and without a major donor willing to write seven-figure checks, the party's infrastructure thins fast. Dolan's $1.4 million does not replace Lauder's $11 million, but it signals that at least one deep-pocketed figure in the state sees the governor's race as worth contesting.
The governor's race carries weight beyond Albany. A strong Republican showing at the top of the ticket could lift GOP candidates in several competitive New York House districts, seats that could factor into which party controls Congress. That dynamic turns a state race into a national one and gives donors like Dolan an incentive that goes well beyond state politics.
None of this guarantees Blakeman can close a double-digit polling gap. Hochul's cash advantage is real, and New York remains a state where Democrats hold deep structural advantages in voter registration and turnout. But the money race is no longer a shutout.
Dolan's shift tells a simple story. When a man who spent years funding Democrats decides his money is better spent on the other side, the question is not what changed about him, it is what changed about the party he left behind.
