Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on March 11 pleaded for wealthy Americans to return from Florida to help fund the state’s “generous social programs.”
A surge of affluent New Yorkers moving to Florida took place in 2025 as Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared likely to win the election after calling for massive tax increases on top income earners as part of a far-left policy agenda that included free day care and city-run grocery stores. Hochul was asked about the tax increases by Politico reporter Nick Reisman during a “fireside chat” at the Politico New York Agenda: Albany Summit.
“I need people who are high-net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state, right?” Hochul responded. “Now, there are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. Okay, cut me the checks if you want to be supportive. But maybe the first step should be to go down to Palm Beach and see who we can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded.”
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There has been an exodus of citizens from blue states like California and New York to Florida, which has no state income tax and has a budget roughly the size of New York City’s. An April 2023 Siena College poll showed 27% of New York residents were planning to leave the state in the next five years, with 31% saying they would leave when they retired.
Hochul previously dismissed opponents of her social policy on abortion during the 2022 gubernatorial campaign in New York, insisting they were not “New Yorkers.”
“Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro – just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong,” Hochul said, according to the New York Post. “OK? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values.”
“You’re not New Yorkers, because we come from a long line of people who fought for women’s rights that happened here first,” Hochul added.
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