POLITICO Playbook Podcast: Hochul Eyes 2030 Third Term, Recounts ICE Call With Trump

POLITICO's The Playbook Podcast used its Saturday, Oct. 31, episode to carry "Hochul makes the case for a governor to lead Democrats in 2028," an installment of Jonathan Martin's On the Road series in which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sits down with POLITICO's politics bureau chief over breakfast in New York City. The roughly 45-minute episode was published in the Playbook feed at 9 a.m. UTC (5 a.m. ET), according to its Apple Podcasts listing, three days before Hochul faces Republican Bruce Blakeman in the Nov. 3 election. It first appeared on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the On the Road with Jonathan Martin feed.

According to the episode description, Hochul discusses working with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, her conversations with President Donald Trump over ICE operations and "why she says data centers should bring their own power," and also weighs in on the possibility of a Palestinian state, the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential field and her hopes for the Buffalo Bills. Martin recorded the conversation at Barney Greengrass, the Upper West Side delicatessen, he wrote in an accompanying POLITICO Magazine column that includes an edited version of the interview.

A third term in 2030

Martin led his column with Hochul's own ambitions: should she win next week, she told him, she intends to seek a full third term as governor in 2030. He noted that a win would put her alongside Nelson Rockefeller, Thomas Dewey and Mario Cuomo. Asked about Rep. Pat Ryan as a possible future candidate for governor, Hochul said, "Well, we have no term limits, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon." She added: "Everybody’s got to wait their turn. I like Pat enormously." Martin described Hochul, who has been governor for more than five years, as the first Western New York governor since Grover Cleveland.

On Sen. Chuck Schumer's future, Hochul said what he does "is absolutely up to him," adding that he "is focused on taking back the Senate at this very moment." Asked how much easier her job would become if Benjamin Netanyahu loses Israel's upcoming election, she answered, "A lot easier," and said a Palestinian state would not come about "as long as Netanyahu is sitting there."

Working with Mamdani

Hochul described a working relationship with Mamdani, a democratic socialist, built on shared priorities. "I could go back to the old New York model of being at war with the mayor," she said, calling that approach "very destabilizing." She cited common ground on universal child care, housing and protecting subways and streets from crime, and said, "I need New York to be successful — I need the mayor to be successful." Asked whether Mamdani has proved pragmatic or ideological, she said, "I’d say very pragmatic when it comes to getting things done."

Hochul said Mamdani's decision to retain Jessica Tisch as police commissioner "was important to me before I supported him." Asked how long that commitment should last, she said, "As long as the commissioner wants."

ICE and the Bronx shooting

On Trump, Hochul said the two had "a respectful call right after we had the shooting with the 5-year-old in the car in the Bronx." She recounted telling him, "I want you to stand down ICE operations for the time being. We have to get to the bottom of this. I wanna see the body cam footage." She told Martin she had yet to see that footage, and that she warned the president, "this is hurting your party politically, in case you haven’t noticed, either."

The shooting took place just after 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, in the Marble Hill neighborhood, when an ICE agent fired into a vehicle with a 5-year-old in the back seat, CNN reported. The driver, Oscar Belgal, 28, from the Dominican Republic, suffered a superficial wound to the neck, according to officials cited by CNN, and federal officials said the agents believed their lives were in danger. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin rejected a pause the next day. "We’re not putting a pause on enforcement," he said at a news conference, CNBC reported.

Hochul told Martin that the relationship between Mamdani and Trump should be judged by "what didn’t happen." Pointing to Chicago and Los Angeles, she said, "That easily could have been us."

Data centers and the final stretch

The data center discussion follows a policy Hochul set in July. On July 14 she signed Executive Order No. 62, which directs the state Department of Environmental Conservation to hold applications for data center permits in abeyance while the Department of Public Service prepares a Generic Environmental Impact Statement; the order does not apply to permits from local governments. Empire State Development described it as the nation's first moratorium on new hyperscale data centers, pausing state environmental permits for up to one year. The next day, according to a transcript released by her office of an appearance on MSNOW's Morning Joe, Hochul said: "Bring your own power source or pay a premium to tap into our grid."

Hochul enters the final weekend with a lead. A Siena Poll of 807 likely voters, conducted Oct. 19-22 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points and released Oct. 28, found her ahead of Blakeman 54% to 40%, up from 50% to 41% in September. For the first time, a majority of voters viewed her favorably, 51% to 45%, and voters said by 68% to 23% that they expect her to win. Syracuse.com reported that the candidates were nearly even upstate, 49% to 48%, and in the New York City suburbs, 49% to 47%, while Hochul led 67% to 23% in the city; early voting runs through Sunday, Nov. 1. In the interview, Hochul said the state "is far more purple than people realize," adding, "This is not a foregone conclusion. It is still a tough state to run in."