Will & Grace star Debra Messing is snubbing Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and backing Republican Bruce Blakeman for New York governor, calling him what the state needs most.
The Brooklyn-born actress appeared with Blakeman in a campaign video and spoke for him at a recent Manhattan fundraiser hosted by dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot, the New York Post reported.
Messing, long known as a high-profile Democratic donor and Trump critic, told the Nassau County executive she is grateful he is running and that he is the answer on affordability and the city’s steep decline.
The endorsement lands as a public rebuke of Hochul from a star who once stumped for Hillary Clinton, gave to far-left actress Cynthia Nixon’s 2018 governor bid, and backed Andrew Cuomo against Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayor’s race.
At the fundraiser, Messing did not speak evasively about conditions in New York City over the past four years.
She told Blakeman:
“I am so grateful you are running. You are what we need more than anything.”
She described an economic and social freefall, lost business, and residents heading for the exits.
Messing said:
“The decline in this city over the last four years has been so exponential and devastating, economically, socially and on every level. And obviously, we’ve lost so much business here. People are leaving.”
She still called New York the “city I love,” then added the hard part: “It’s not the city I love anymore.”
Cost of living sat at the center of her pitch. She pointed to crushing expenses, high utilities, and the $9 congestion pricing toll to enter Manhattan.
Messing said people are “just really struggling” and “need their utilities to be lower,” and told Blakeman she loves that affordability “is at the top of your mind.”
She went further:
“I believe in all my heart that you are the answer. You are the affordable campaign, candidate.”
And:
“It’s just too expensive to live in New York City, and I love the fact that is at the top of your mind.”
Blakeman, the Republican candidate and Nassau County executive, called Messing “iconic” and thanked her “for your courage to speak out.”
He framed her stand as more than celebrity politics. Blakeman said she is working “to save New York and to make sure it’s safe for Jewish people who live in this community and in this state.”
Last week he vowed that if voters elect him in November, he would eliminate state income taxes on the first $50,000 for single filers and the first $100,000 for married couples. His plan notes that average income for married couples in 45 of New York’s 62 counties sits under $100,000.
That is a clear contrast with Albany’s tax-and-toll status quo, and Messing put the cost-of-living crisis front and center in her remarks.
Messing’s move stands out because of her record. She is a Jewish NYU alum and “Will & Grace” star who spent years on the left side of Democratic politics.
She stumped for Hillary Clinton for president. She donated to Cynthia Nixon’s 2018 run against the Democratic establishment. Until recently she was a staunch critic of President Trump. In 2019 she posted on X demanding a public list of attendees at a Beverly Hills fundraiser for Trump, writing, “Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know,” and drawing accusations of McCarthyism.
After Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Messing voiced outrage and put up hostage signs in Manhattan. She later endorsed Cuomo for mayor and blasted Mamdani, whom the reporting describes as a left-wing, anti-Israel figure she has fiercely opposed.
Now she is standing with a Republican who is a staunch supporter of Israel, and she is doing it against a sitting Democratic governor.
Hochul has already taken heat over her handling of Jewish community concerns. Messing’s choice underlines how far some once-reliable Democratic voices have drifted from the party’s current direction in New York.
Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki dismissed the endorsement and cast Blakeman as a MAGA threat.
Radulovacki said:
“We’re proud that New Yorkers from across all 62 counties, with an average online donation of $22.38, are standing with Governor Hochul in her fight to bring down the cost of housing, childcare, car insurance and more, and stop her ‘MAGA all the way’ opponent from letting Donald Trump attack New York, jack up prices, and threaten public safety.”
The statement leaned on small-dollar donors and cost-of-living talk. It did not grapple with why a famous Democratic celebrity just told a Republican he is “what we need more than anything.”
Messing’s list of grievances, businesses gone, people leaving, utilities too high, the city she loves no longer feeling like home, matches what countless New Yorkers say out loud. Albany’s answer has been congestion tolls and more of the same.
Blakeman is offering a different deal: cut the income tax burden for working households and put safety and affordability first. Messing heard that and crossed the aisle.
When even a star Democrat says the old playbook failed the city she loves, voters should listen, and hold the people in charge to account.
