A New York union representing state correction officers has thrown its support behind Republican Bruce Blakeman in the race for governor, voting 1,370 to 78 to back the Nassau County executive over incumbent Kathy Hochul. The endorsement, announced by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, marks the first time in the union's history that it has weighed in on a statewide gubernatorial race.
The vote caps months of fallout from the 2025 wildcat prison strike, during which Hochul fired roughly 2,000 correction officers who walked off the job over unsafe working conditions, according to the New York Post. National Guard troops have remained deployed across dozens of correctional facilities since the strike ended in March 2025, filling in for officers the department has struggled to replace despite recruitment efforts. State prisons employed about 14,000 correction officers, sergeants and lieutenants before the walkout, but the New York Post reported roughly 11,113 correctional employees in August 2026.
NYSCOPBA president Chris Summers wrote that the endorsement results represent more than numbers on a ballot, framing the vote as a direct message from rank-and-file members about who they trust to fix the state's prison system. Union leadership announced the results in a Facebook post.
Written Promises Sealed the Deal
New York's prison system was also facing disputes over the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, Taylor Law fines, terminated officers and National Guard personnel. Blakeman has said he would bring law and order back to New York if elected and has stated he plans to hire back every correction officer Hochul fired.
The commitments target grievances that have simmered since the 22-day strike, which ran from February 17 to March 10, 2025, and suspended educational programs, family visits, and medical care across state prisons, according to Ithaka S+R. At least seven incarcerated individuals died in state custody during that stretch. During the standoff, an Erie County State Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order in February 2025 ordering striking officers back to work under the Taylor Law, a ruling many strikers defied, as reported by City & State New York. That defiance led directly to Hochul's mass termination notices.
The Price Tag Keeps Climbing
New York's continued reliance on the National Guard has cost taxpayers roughly $700 million through the end of March, with an additional $535 million proposed in Hochul's budget, according to Corrections1. The mounting bill has become a flashpoint in Albany budget talks. The Post notes the deployment continues to cost millions of dollars a month, even as correctional officer headcount has fallen well short of the department's staffing target despite an aggressive recruitment drive.
Union leaders point to persistent violence as evidence the current approach isn't working. DOCCS data show assaults on prison staff hit a record 2,067 incidents in 2024, nearly double the 2020 level, a spike union leaders cited as their central reason for the strike, according to Corrections1. Violence has not let up: DOCCS' own August 2026 fact sheet recorded 927 staff assaults and 1,722 inmate-on-inmate assaults in the first seven months of the year, with half of those inmate-on-inmate attacks involving a cutting or stabbing weapon.
HALT Act Remains the Flashpoint
Officers have blamed much of the violence on the 2021 HALT Solitary Confinement Act, which capped disciplinary isolation at 15 consecutive days, or 20 days within a 60-day period, and banned segregated confinement for vulnerable populations, according to the New York State Senate. Officers argue the law stripped them of disciplinary tools, while advocates maintain it is a necessary safeguard against inhumane treatment — a divide Blakeman's HALT-repeal pledge places him squarely on one side of.
Underlying the standoff is New York's 1967 Taylor Law, which bars public employees from striking and allows fines and discipline, according to the PEF Communicator. Blakeman's pledge to rehire fired workers would run up against the same statutory framework Hochul invoked to end the strike — leaving the legal path to reinstatement an open question.
NYSCOPBA's Other Picks Down the Ballot
The union didn't stop at the governor's race. NYSCOPBA also endorsed Republican attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Letitia James, and backed Democratic state comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who faces Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez in November. Hochul, seeking a second full four-year term, now faces continued criticism over prison conditions as she heads toward the November election.
The endorsement fight is unfolding alongside other flashpoints in Blakeman's campaign against Hochul's record. Correction officers themselves protested unsafe working conditions at the state capitol in Albany on March 4, 2025, a demonstration that came to symbolize the grievances now shaping the union's political calculus heading into the fall vote.
