ALBANY, New York — The Empire State’s controversial bail law is again under the microscope — just as Gov. Kathy Hochul prepares to run for reelection.
The Democrat’s potential Republican opponent, Rep. Elise Stefanik, is preparing legislation that would prohibit state-level cashless bail laws.
President Donald Trump, who deployed the National Guard to Washington and federalized the city’s police department with the stated goal of combating crime in the nation’s capital, is in favor of the anti-bail push.
New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s support for defunding the police — a stance he’s edged away from — stands to be a potent cudgel.
And Republicans are eager to again make public safety a cornerstone issue next year.
It’s déjà vu for Hochul, who was hammered by Republican Lee Zeldin over the bail issue during the 2022 election. Hochul defeated Zeldin by a relatively thin six percent margin for deep blue New York — but the line of attack proved to be a drag on Democratic House candidates and helped hand control of Congress to Republicans. The governor this week called the latest attack a diversion and accused Republicans of lying to score points.
“I’m not going to be taking off my 100 percent focus on making New Yorkers safer and more affordable,” she said. “They can do all they want to cause distractions, and when they tell lies, that’s the press’s job to call it out as well. We are not a cashless bail state.”
Stefanik blasted Hochul as out of touch in response.
“Kathy Hochul is clearly in full blown denial and political free fall about New York prohibiting cash bail for many crimes in New York including assaults because her poll numbers with independents are plummeting,” her team said in a statement. “While Kathy Hochul and Democrats double down on failed bail reform leading to the crime crisis, Congresswoman Stefanik will end failed far-left bail reform so we can save New York from these Communists and single party Democrat rule.”
The 2019 bail law — approved by Hochul’s predecessor Andrew Cuomo — ended bail for many criminal charges, including misdemeanors and some felonies.
A rise in crime and rearrests, coinciding with the pandemic, led to an outcry over the liberal criminal justice changes, which Republicans effectively leveraged in campaigns.
Hochul has successfully pressed fellow Democrats to change the law with provisions expanding the criminal charges in which a person can be held and giving more discretion to judges.
This year, she won alterations to the state’s discovery law that district attorneys wanted in order to reduce the number of dismissals in criminal cases.
Hochul would also rather talk about an all-time low in New York City shootings and drop in felony crimes on subways — statistics she can tout as evidence her public safety approach is working.
“The Legislature has made three necessary fixes to bail since 2019, many crimes are at a historic low and Elise Stefanik is disconnected from reality,” said Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis, who also pointed to a recent New York Post frontpage trumpeting the sharp drop in shootings. (A Stefanik spokesperson called him “clueless.”)
But New York Democrats are also warily watching the president’s takeover of the Washington police department and move to deploy the National Guard to the streets of the nation’s capital. Hochul this week also condemned the possibility that Trump, a Stefanik ally, would deploy the National Guard to New York City.
“If he crosses that bright line and decides that the 32,000 dedicated members of the NYPD are not doing their jobs — he’s going to stand there and insult our law enforcement officers — I think people would be in outrage of that alone,” she said.
The governor approved her own limited deployment of the New York National Guard to the city’s subway system. The troops do not have arrest powers, but the move was meant to reinforce the perception of safety on mass transit.
“I’ve used them as a deterrent effect to stand there and just be a presence,” Hochul said.
Democrats, though, are in something of a political cul-de-sac on crime, despite the steep drops in violent offenses.
“It’s an issue that Democrats have failed to take any serious action on,” Erie County GOP Chair Michael Kracker said. “The Republican Party has pledged to make the nation and the state safer. If Democrats fail to take action, Republicans will.”
Citing crime statistics won’t be enough for New Yorkers who don’t feel safe in their own neighborhoods, he added.
“Ask your average New Yorker if they feel safer than they have over the last few years,” Kracker said. “The answer is going to be a resounding no.”
A version of this story first appeared in New York Playbook.
