Hochul beefs up campaign staff in sign of looming GOP threat

BRIGITTE STELZER

ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul is filling the upper echelons of her re-election team with alumni of campaigns in battleground states and other recent high-stakes political fights – a signal she may be expecting a tough race even in deep-blue New York.

The governor has taken former staffers from high-profile statewide races in battlegrounds such as Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin, as well as some advisers from her gubernatorial run atop the ticket in 2022.

Hochul’s campaign manager, Preston Elliott, ran Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2022 re-election campaign and had a recent stint at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or DSCC, the Democrats’ campaign arm managing independent spending in Senate races.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign is staffing up ahead of a likel