Hochul gets boost from Bloomberg-backed charter school super PAC in NY governors race

A pro-charter school super PAC bankrolled by Mike Bloomberg is spending seven figures on a get-out-the-vote effort and media campaign to re-elect Democratic Gov.Kathy Hochul.Bloomberg, a former three-term New York City mayor and billionaire business mogul, donated $1.8 million to the group New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany earlier this year.The effort will focus on competitive districts across Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley, the Capital Region, southern Brooklyn and Staten Island – suburban and ticket-splitting areas where the race for governor will be decided, the group said.“Governor Hochul has consistently stood up for New York’s students and families, and now parents are standing up for her,” said Crystal McQueen-Taylor, of New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany.“This is a true parent-powered movement.

Dozens of parents across Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx are knocking on doors because they know what’s at stake for their children’s future,” she said.“And in the suburbs and swing districts where this election will be won, we are making sure Democrats who want to keep New York moving forward show up and vote.”The push for Hochul came after the governor — who is seeking a second, full four-year term on November 3 — announced she was opting New York state into a federal “education freedom” tax credit scholarship program.The initiative, championed by President Trump, could benefit more than 2.7 million New York public, parochial and private school students — but New York’s participation was fiercely opposed by the powerful teachers’ union.A source close to the Bloomberg-backed PAC said the decision to boost Hochul was in the works before her Friday announcement about the tax credit program.The group is also backing seven moderate Democratic candidates for state Senate, including Larry He in southern Brooklyn and incumbent Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, who reps Staten Island and a portion of southern Brooklyn.The two New York City d...