Lefty Hollywood actress goes all in on support for Republican NY gubernatorial candidate

Actress Debra Messing.

In past election cycles she's supported the likes of Hillary Clinton and Cynthia Nixon and heavily opposed Donald Trump, but in 2026 longtime Democrat Debra Messing is throwing her support behind the Republican in the race for New York governor. 

According to The New York Post, Messing, best known for her starring role in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, appeared at a recent fundraiser for Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County Executive taking on incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, where she publicly backed the Republican candidate. 

"I am so grateful you are running. You are what we need more than anything,” she said at last week's event hosted by Tanya Zuckerbrot, the celebrity dietician. Messing, who is 58 years old and was born in Brooklyn and graduated from New York University, said her support for Blakeman is heavily influenced by the state of New York City in recent years.

“The decline in this city over the last four years has been so exponential and devastating — economically, socially and on every level. And obviously, we’ve lost so much business here. People are leaving,” Messing said at the fundraiser, The New York Post reported. She's even appears in a campaign video with Blakeman, who thanks Messing for showing the courage to publicly support him. 

Republican Bruce Blakeman, who is running to unseat Kathy Hochul as NY governor.

“I believe in all my heart that you are the answer. You are the affordable campaign, candidate," Messing continued at the event. 

"Party loyalty doesn’t pay the utility bill or keep you safe," Blakeman said Monday in a post on social media. "Thank you, Debra. I’ll cut taxes, lower bills, and make New York safe and affordable."

Messing, who is Jewish has also been outspoken in her support of Israel following the terror attack by Hamas three years ago on October 7, and has publicly criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as an “American-hating jihadist,” and calling him “Osama bin Mamdani.”

Recent polling has shown Blakeman trails Hochul significantly, although in recent weeks he has managed to cut her lead down to single digits, and prediction markets like Kalshi give Blakeman a very slim chance of toppling Hochul. However, during an appearance on Fox News over the weekend, Blakeman said the race is closer than public polling might make things appear. "Our internal polling has us within the margin of error," Blakeman said, referring to private polling campaigns conduct to better evaluate the state of a race.

"You’re going to see one of great upsets in these midterm elections," Blakeman predicted. "We are going to win New York.”

Watch a highlight of the two discussing the issues in the campaign video below: