EXCLUSIVE: While Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman weighs a gubernatorial bid, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., is reportedly considering a corporate tax hike – a move the New York Republican described to Fox News Digital as a “tax on the middle class.”

Blakeman said a decision about his political future is coming “very soon” as he travels across New York state to determine if he has the “support to get to the next level.”

But as Blakeman mulls his political future, he is sounding the alarm on Hochul for reportedly planning to raise taxes on corporations to shore up funds for the state’s budget gap and to deliver on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s socialist campaign agenda, according to Politico.

“This is a tax on the middle class,” Blakeman told Fox News Digital. “It will make things less affordable. It will drive up inflation, and it will make New York less competitive. Corporations are already leaving our state in record numbers. Jobs are leaving our state. People are leaving our state. This corporate tax increase will drive more high net-worth individuals and corporations out of New York State and will be an economic disaster.”

NEW YORK LEADER PLEDGES MORE COPS, TOUGHER ICE PARTNERSHIP IF NYC ELECTS SOCIALIST MAYOR

President Donald Trump is greeted by Bruce Blakeman, County Executive of Nassau County, New York, after arriving at the Republic Airport on Air Force One on Sept. 26, 2025, in Farmingdale, New York.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Kyle Strober, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, the region’s leading economic development advocacy organization, told Fox News Digital that a corporate tax increase could be “potentially devastating” to Long Island’s economy.

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“Long Island, whose economy is closely aligned with New York City, is already confronting multiple challenges, including high taxes, high costs of living, and a lack of housing driving potential employees and employers outside the region,” Strober said, adding that a corporate tax hike would “only serve to drive away additional businesses and high-income earners, who pay the majority of the state’s tax revenue.”

“When this occurs, the tax burden is shifted to Long Island’s hard working middle class. It becomes self-evident that this tax proposal would fly in direct conflict of making New York more affordable for our middle class, a stated goal of Albany leadership,” he explained.

The ABLI led efforts in 2021 and 2025 to oppose tax hike proposals out of Albany, particularly tax hikes on the top 1% of New Yorkers and raising the corporate tax rate.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman celebrates his re-election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, on Long Island, New York.  (Office of the County Executive)

Hochul has faced pressure from the socialist wing of the Democratic Party to raise taxes so Mamdani can deliver on his ambitious campaign promises, including fast and free buses, universal childcare and city-run grocery stores.

Mamdani campaigned on raising taxes on the top 1% of New Yorkers and hiking up the state’s corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5% to match the rate in New Jersey. Any tax hikes would require Hochul’s approval in Albany.

MAMDANI LAUGHS OFF CRITICISM THAT HIS TAX HIKE PROPOSALS WILL COMPEL NEW YORKERS TO FLEE

While the comparably moderate governor endorsed Mamdani after he secured the Democratic nomination, Hochul has maintained that she won’t raise taxes on the top 1% of New Yorkers – despite Mamdani’s supporters heckling Hochul to “Tax the rich!”

“This has become a one-party state ruled by the far-left, woke, progressive part of the Democratic Party, now led by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, who is an avowed social democrat,” Blakeman said, charging that Mamdani sounds like a “communist.”

“He is anti-American values,” Blakeman said. “He is against business. He will destroy the economy of the greatest financial city in the world, the financial capital of the world: New York City. And that will have a material effect on my county, which borders New York city.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, center, delivered remarks alongside elected officials and business leaders to oppose corporate tax increases on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (Office of the County Executive)

Blakeman said Hochul raising taxes on corporations would be a “disaster.” And when asked how the state should approach Mamdani following his election night success, Blakeman said Republican leadership needs to step up and “push back” in New York state.

“When he wants to do crazy things, like give free bus rides to everybody, which will be nothing more than homeless shelters on wheels, when he doesn’t want to prosecute criminals for committing crimes, when he wants to increase taxes and increase the corporate tax rate, and he wants the tax the rich, which will drive people out of New York State, and they’ll take jobs with them, we have to push back.”

AS NYC ELECTS SOCIALIST MAMDANI, NEIGHBORING COUNTY DOUBLES DOWN ON TRUMP-STYLE LEADERSHIP WITH BLAKEMAN’S WIN

While New York City handed power to its far-left flank on Election Day, neighboring Nassau County re-elected Blakeman, an ally of President Donald Trump.

“I won because I adhered to American values, American principles. I didn’t raise taxes a penny in four years. I hired 600 new law enforcement professionals. I declared Nassau County wasn’t a sanctuary county. I showed leadership and I reached out to communities that in the past, the Republican Party has ignored,” Blakeman said, explaining how he built a broad coalition of support among diverse communities.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul hold hands on stage as they attend a “New York is Not For Sale” rally at Forest Hills Stadium, in the Queens borough of New York City, on Oct. 26, 2025.  (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

When reached for comment, Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika told Fox News Digital that the governor has “cut middle class taxes while putting inflation refund checks in New Yorkers’ pockets.”

“Bruce Blakeman is the number one fanboy for Trump’s tariffs that are raising costs for families and making everything more expensive for small businesses – while the governor remains laser-focused on lowering costs, Blakeman’s shilling for Donald Trump’s tariff tax hikes,” Chitika charged.

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Since winning his re-election earlier this month, Blakeman said business and political leaders have encouraged him to launch a campaign for governor, given his executive experience.

But while rumors swirl about Blakeman’s political future, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., another Trump loyalist, has already launched her gubernatorial campaign and secured support from New York Republican Party Chair Ed Cox.