Major transit union launches ad blitz ripping Hochul as so ‘toxic’ that Dem pols are running from her

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Campanile, C., & Fischetti, M. (2026, October 25). Major transit union launches ad blitz ripping Hochul as so ‘toxic’ that Dem pols are running from her. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/25/us-news/twu-launches-ad-blitz-ripping-hochul-as-radioactive/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-25 · by Carl Campanile, Matthew Fischetti

Quick Summary

The Transport Workers Union of America has launched a series of ads criticizing Governor Kathy Hochul for being “radioactive” and “toxic,” with Democrats avoiding her due to political damage. The union spent $60,000 on these ads alone and an additional $120,000 on further advertisements and mailers, totaling over $450,000 in ad spending since July. The criticism stems from Hochul’s veto of a bill requiring conductors on all subway trains, which the union views as anti-labor.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-25, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Transport Workers Union of America launched a series of scathing advertisements against New York Governor Kathy Hochul, labeling her as "radioactive" and "toxic." The campaign began just before early voting started for the midterm elections. The union, which represents about 40,000 city subway and bus workers under an MTA contract that expired in May, spent $60,000 on these ads to criticize Hochul's support for workers and her effectiveness as governor. The ads cite instances where Democratic candidates have distanced themselves from Hochul, such as Tom Suozzi bailing on a campaign event with her and another candidate agreeing with her Republican opponent that she needs to be replaced. Despite this criticism, the governor’s office maintains that she has always stood up for workers' rights and conditions.

Written for “Hochul Criticized By Transit Union Ad Campaign” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.45, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 106365: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-25

Story

📰 Hochul Criticized By Transit Union Ad Campaign
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 38 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles describe different events occurring on the same day: one about Bruce Blakeman courting disaffected Democrats, and another about a transit union launching ads criticizing Kathy Hochul.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 13850 article(s) · 34 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 34 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Carl Campanile
61 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The Transport Workers Union of America, whose local members include roughly 40,000 city subway and bus workers toiling under an MTA contract that lapsed in May, began airing the scathing spots Friday, a day before early voting opened
🔮 Critics – including President Trump — immediately called for her to step away, saying she was too political, biased and unethical to fairly investigate the case. Norman Siegel, a longtime civil rights lawyer, said James is doing the right thing, adding that her taking the case would be like a police commissioner commenting on police misconduct cases before a probe is finished.
🔮 The folky tunes of an extremely rare piano will once again sound in Manhattan Friday — nearly a century after Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia banned the instruments from the city streets.
🔮 Your name will still appear in the poll pads and you could still vote on the machines,” said BOE spokesman Vincent Ignizio.
🔮 The nine-member Public Design Commission was supposed to only review how the new casino and its grounds were supposed to look and accommodate the public — but critics at the meeting attacked the project by Mets owner Steve Cohen over objections to gambling and how it would affect the area.
🔮 The country’s teachers unions are opposed to the program, claiming it will somehow siphon taxpayer dollars from public schools — even though backers such as Dem New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have dismissed the notion.
🔮 Some members of the Real Estate Board of New York made max donations to the Friends of Kathy Hochul and the Democratic Party — a move that may aim to give them influence with the governor but may ultimately be fueling policies that are hurting their bottom lines, strategists and Republicans said.
🔮 “Jessica Tisch could potentially be a viable contender for mayor,” pollster Bradley Honan said.
🔮 State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli vowed to continue investing pension funds in Israel bonds despite a growing divestment push from pro-Palestinian activists — including Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
🔮 But Komatireddy will have to peel away some soft or persuadable James backers to pull off an upset, the pollster noted.
Also by Carl Campanile
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 61 articles by Carl Campanile →
Matthew Fischetti
9 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The Transport Workers Union of America, whose local members include roughly 40,000 city subway and bus workers toiling under an MTA contract that lapsed in May, began airing the scathing spots Friday, a day before early voting opened
🔮 “Given the long history of antisemitism and the persecution of Jewish people, the use of this symbol in a context that may associate it with sinister or threatening imagery is particularly disturbing.
🔮 Mayor Zohran Mamdani is threatening to sue Columbia University to open their campus gates — which have been locked for three years since the anti-Israel campus protests of 2023.
🔮 Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be sitting in the guest seat for Monday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” as the West Coast-produced show heads to the Big Apple for a week-long stretch.
🔮 Labor and construction industry groups lashed out at Democratic Rep. Josh Riley and pushed back against his claims that two bills he pitched would bring down energy costs.
🔮 Now the nonprofit group “A Better Road Forward” is launching TV ads directed at voters and will hold informational meetings around the state, according to Politico.
🔮 Mayor Zohran Mamdani will welcome President Trump to Gracie Mansion on Monday when the commander in chief visits the Big Apple for the United Nations General Assembly.
🔮 A senior adviser to Mayor Zohran Mamdani pulling in a $185,000 salary repeatedly praised “gay communism” and called for abolishing the police in deleted social media posts, a new report said.
🔮 City Hall officials broke state record-keeping rules with a secret Signal chat filled with pro-Zohran Mamdani influencers, the mayor’s top attorney seemingly admitted Friday.
Also by Matthew Fischetti
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Matthew Fischetti →

Topics

Dem Democratic MTA New York The Post

Subjects

Hochul PERSON · 5× MTA ORG · 3× The Post ORG · 3× Dem NORP · 2× Democratic NORP · 2× Kathy Hochul PERSON · 2× New York GPE · 2× Democrat NORP · 1× New Yorkers NORP · 1× The Transport Workers Union of America ORG · 1×

Narrative

A rep for Hochul’s campaign told The Post on Sunday, “Governor Hochul comes from a union family and has always stood up for workers, created good-paying union jobs, and fought for better pay and working conditions – she’s proud to have earned the support of the more than thirty New York unions who can’t trust ‘100% MAGA’ Blakeman to protect their rights, safeguard their healthcare, or bring down their costs.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-25
🔮 The Transport Workers Union of America, whose local members include roughly 40,000 city subway and bus workers toiling under an MTA contract that lapsed in May, began airing the scathing spots Friday, a day before early voting opened

Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)

A major labor union has launched an ad blitz ripping Dem Gov. Kathy Hochul as so “radioactive” and “toxic” that midterm candidates from her own party want nothing to do with her. asserted
candidates → launch → her
The Transport Workers Union of America, whose local members include roughly 40,000 city subway and bus workers toiling under an MTA contract that lapsed in May, began airing the scathing spots Friday, a day before early voting opened uncertain
voting → include → spots
“Governor Kathy Hochul is so radioactive, even Democratic candidates are running away from her,” the ad kicks off, referring to the state’s top Democrat who effectively controls the MTA through appointments. asserted
who → run → appointments
“They’re increasingly recognizing that the governor is a disaster for working New Yorkers and a major drag on their own political campaigns.” asserted
governor → recognize → campaigns
The ads reference Dem Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi bailing on a campaign event with Hochul and Democratic Hudson Valley congressional hopeful Cait Conley being caught on video agreeing with her Republican opponent that the incumbent governor has “got to go” — both instances that were first reported by The Post. asserted
that → reference → Post
Transit union honcho John Samuelsen told The Post that in addition to the $60,000 spent on the new ads, the union’s super PAC is plunking down an additional $120,000 on more TV ads playing across the state and sent out “hundreds of thousands” of mailers to trade-union families in New York, too. asserted
PAC → tell → York
“If she wasn’t perpetually attacking trade unions, she wouldn’t be so toxic and maybe other Democrats would be more willing to stand with her,” he said. asserted
he → attack → her
State campaign finance records show that the Transport Workers Union Voice has spent more than $450,000 on television advertisements since they registered with the state in July. asserted
they → show → July
Samuelsen has blasted the governor as anti-labor since she vetoed a bill that would have required a conductor on all subway trains along with a train operator. asserted
that → blast → operator
Hochul said in her veto message that the bill would “cost as much as $10 million annually, reducing service and limiting the MTA’s ability to benefit in modern rolling stock [new trains] and signals.” asserted
bill → say → stock
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman criticized the veto, saying the decision “put riders and transit workers at risk” and stood with the union. asserted
decision → criticize → union
Hochul and the transit workers union didn’t always butt heads. asserted
Hochul → butt → heads
The union and Local 100, which endorsed her in 2022, dumped more than $175,000 into her campaign accounts between 2018 and 2024, state records show. asserted
records → endorse → 2018
A rep for Hochul’s campaign told The Post on Sunday, “Governor Hochul comes from a union family and has always stood up for workers, created good-paying union jobs, and fought for better pay and working conditions – she’s proud to have earned the support of the more than thirty New York unions who can’t trust ‘100% MAGA’ Blakeman to protect their rights, safeguard their healthcare, or bring down their costs.” asserted
who → tell → costs
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