Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) campaign returned at least $72,500 in prohibited donations from political appointees after a media publication raised questions about the funds.
Gothamist reported the donations, which are a drop in the bucket compared to the $17.5 million she has on hand as of July. Hochul raised $4.3 million in the first six months of 2025.
The New York governor received the donations from benefactors after she placed them in key positions in the state government. Hochul renewed a state policy banning state employees and officers from donating to a gubernatorial campaign in 2021.
A Hochul campaign spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the donations are being refunded.
The campaign also provided a statement from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten vouching for Hochul’s standards.
“Governor Hochul has the highest ethical standards and is working day in and day out to put money back in families’ pockets,” Weingarten said in a statement. “I’m proud to stand behind her.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is gunning to run against Hochul in the 2026 gubernatorial election as the Republican nominee, embraced the news. She called the donations a “pay-to-play scheme.”
“Kathy Hochul was just caught red-handed yet again, this time accepting at least $72,500 from campaign donors whom she personally appointed to political positions throughout New York,” she said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner.
“The Worst Governor in America violated her own executive order to enrich her campaign in a pay-to-play scheme and is now being forced to return the cash and refund her appointees,” she added.
Hochul took a shot from her left flank, too.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado (D-NY), who wants to topple the governor in the 2026 Democratic primary, said Hochul is shattering her own ethics order.
“Raising money from political appointees after pledging not to, Governor Hochul is driving a truck through her own ethics order,” Delgado campaign spokesman Steven Ileka told Gothamist. “This is the government of the donors, by the donors, for the donors — and New Yorkers are the ones being left out.”
The New York Times reported in 2018 that then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was also guilty of fundraising from his political appointees — and to much greater effect. He raised $890,000 from appointees and an additional $1.3 million from spouses, children, and related businesses of appointees.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi declined to comment to the Washington Examiner on the New York Times story, citing the article’s age, or on the prohibited donations going toward Hochul.
Hochul also raised nearly $500,000 from Cuomo appointees and their spouses during her 2022 campaign for governor. The donations were technically allowed because the appointees were placed in their positions by Cuomo, not her.
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Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, laid out the ethics of political appointees giving money to Hochul.
“The governor has set the rule on this, and she should follow the rule,” Horner told Gothamist. “It minimizes the possibility that the public will think that they’re getting appointed to important government positions because they’re campaign donors.”