There’s nothing like being smacked by reality.
Just five months after she told Republican critics to hit the road and not look back, New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging her restless constituents to stay.
As Breitbart News columnist John Nolte reported on Monday, Hochul used her inauguration address on Sunday as an opportunity to appeal to New Yorkers to stick with her despite the high crime, rising energy costs, and, of course, left-wing woke politics.
“New Yorkers are just struggling to pay rent, food, and gas to get to their jobs,” she said during her speech. “They’re hurting.”
“We must and will make our state safe,” Hochul continued. “We have to make our state more affordable … And we must reverse the trend of people leaving our state in search of lower costs and opportunities elsewhere.”
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That latter part was a nod to Florida.
In a speech back in early August, Hochul more or less told Republicans who didn’t want to vote for her to go elsewhere.
“Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida, where you belong. Get outta town!” Hochul said at a campaign rally for a special election, as The Free Press reported. “You don’t represent our values. You are not New Yorkers.”
Yet some fresh census data may have helped Hochul change her tune.
Last month, the Census Bureau reported that 299,557 people called themselves former New Yorkers between July 2021 and July 2022. Overall, the state lost 0.9% of its total population because of outbound migration.
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“The continuation of the Empire State Exodus is a crisis that demands immediate attention and action,” Justin Wilcox, executive director of Upstate United, a pro-business organization, told Spectrum News at the time.
“This troubling trend will continue until Governor Hochul, and legislative leaders enact meaningful tax relief and pro-growth reforms. We need to get our economy moving – not our people.”
As The Free Press has reported, New York has lost 1.5 million residents over the past decade.
On the other hand, Florida, along with Texas, continues to show the largest gains in population.
Meanwhile, Nolte noted that last month there was a report showing 16% of New York City’s highest earners — those making at least $150,000 a year — had fled the city.
Nolte also pointed out that it’s doubtful Hochul’s appeal for people to stay will have an effect.
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“How will she overcome a veto-proof Democrat majority dedicated to its fascist version of a ‘utopia’ with insanely high taxes, ridiculous environmental regulations, and an obvious desire to push people out of the state who think and vote differently?” he wrote. “People fleeing New York is not a bug in the system. It’s a feature. Democrats want unlimited power to reorganize society, and the best way to do that is to eliminate all opposition.”
“These Democrats don’t care if New York’s population is 40 million for four million. They want to rule and rule alone.”
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