Morning After: Hochul Keeps Albany, Toll Stays, Long Island Board Still Blank

Long Island woke up Wednesday to the result it braced for: Kathy Hochul keeps the governor's mansion. The race was called at 9:00 PM Tuesday, right as polls closed, and with 88% reported statewide this morning Hochul holds 60.2% to Bruce Blakeman's 39.8%, a 20.4-point margin that outran every final poll.

For drivers here, the headline is simple. The congestion toll into Man A isn't going anywhere. Blakeman made the CRZ charge the centerpiece of his campaign, and commuters along the Sound who pay it every week now face four more years of it. "I'll keep paying to get to work, I guess," said one Soundview villager filling up at the OP Gas station in West Long Island. "Nobody in Man A has to drive in."

New A's own board tells a strange story. Only The BX has reported, 36 of its 38 votes, at Hochul +66.7 in BX Homesteads. Man A, New BK, New S and Long Island all still read zero. That includes all 8,200 of Blakeman's home-turf votes across Soundview, North Shore, West Island and East Island. Those city numbers will skew far bluer than the State once they post, so don't read them as a statewide picture.

The wave didn't stop at the state line. Democrats were projected to win the US House at 9:00 PM, 124–75 at last count, and to hold the Senate at 11:41 PM, 51–40. That puts a Democratic Washington next to a Democratic Albany and a Democratic City Hall under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. On Long Island, that means less leverage for anyone hoping a federal push might kill the toll.

Markets marked the shift. OP Gas, the exchange's toll proxy, is down 3.41% this morning. Cray Industries, headquartered out east, is up 1.67%.

Next comes the transition, though there's little to hand over. Hochul and running mate Adrienne Adams are sworn in January 1. Blakeman returns to his day job as Long Island Executive. This station will be watching the Island's board until its votes finally come in.