New York voters are deciding Tuesday whether to keep Thomas DiNapoli in the state comptroller's office for another term or hand the job to Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez, a race that will oversee how the state audits its agencies and manages a pension fund covering nearly 1.3 million people. Polls close at 9 p.m., and with ballots still being counted across the state, no winner has been determined.
A Two-Decade Incumbent Faces a First-Time Statewide Challenger
DiNapoli has held the comptroller role since 2007, according to WHEC, giving him nearly two decades in the post that serves as the state's chief fiscal watchdog. Hernandez, an entrepreneur and the Republican nominee for comptroller, previously ran as an independent candidate in New York City's 2025 mayoral race, according to reporting from FOX 5 New York. The matchup puts a long-tenured Democratic incumbent against a political newcomer to statewide office in a contest that will shape oversight of New York's budget and spending for the next four years.
Fox 5's election night coverage began at 4 p.m. Tuesday, with the station noting that official results become available once polls close at 9 p.m. The station's report also drew on live results data supplied by the Associated Press as ballots were tallied statewide.
Polling Showed a Commanding Lead Heading Into Election Day
A Siena poll conducted October 19-22 among 807 likely New York voters found DiNapoli leading Hernandez 59% to 32%, according to the Siena Research Institute. That 27-point margin had widened slightly from a 23-point lead, 56% to 33%, in the institute's September survey. The poll offers a snapshot of voter sentiment heading into Tuesday but is not a vote count.
Turnout data released by New York Focus showed that 15.5% of the state's active voters had already cast ballots early in person through Nov. 1, per the outlet's election results tracker. A snapshot of that same tracker captured 0% of the state's 13,187 election districts reporting, reflecting results data before counting had begun rather than any indication of how the race stands. WHEC has cautioned that any results visible before 9 p.m. on election day are for testing purposes only and should be disregarded.
What Happens After Polls Close
Vote counting continues after polls close, and the final outcome may take time to become clear.
DiNapoli Points to Pension Fund Growth and Fiscal Monitoring
DiNapoli's campaign has highlighted the growth of New York's state pension fund to nearly $300 billion as a credential of his tenure. The fund, formally known as the New York State Common Retirement Fund, holds and invests assets on behalf of nearly 1.3 million state and local government employees, retirees and beneficiaries, according to the Office of the State Comptroller.
DiNapoli's campaign has also pointed to an early warning system he created for communities and school districts experiencing fiscal problems, intended to flag budget trouble before it worsens. The Office of the State Comptroller describes the system as a way to alert local officials and taxpayers so they can respond proactively to emerging fiscal stress.
Hernandez Pitches Fraud Task Force and a $10 Billion Investment Fund
Hernandez's campaign argues that current oversight of state spending moves too slowly and that audits tend to be reactive rather than preventive. To address that, his campaign says he would establish a dedicated Fraud Strike Task Force aimed at identifying suspicious spending, investigating fraud schemes, and referring credible cases to law enforcement and prosecutors, according to the candidate's campaign website.
Hernandez's platform also calls for pre-payment monitoring and data-analysis tools designed to flag suspicious claims, vendors and transactions before taxpayer dollars go out the door, and for prioritizing audits of the MTA, Medicaid, CDPAP and other major state spending programs. Separately, his campaign has proposed a $10 billion Empire Opportunity Fund intended to identify competitive investment opportunities tied to New York businesses, industries, infrastructure and economic growth.
With polls still open and ballots being counted into Wednesday, the outcome of the comptroller race remains undetermined. Voters will decide whether DiNapoli's two-decade record or Hernandez's proposed overhauls shape the next term of New York's fiscal watchdog office.
