Will & Grace star Debra Messing is backing Republican Bruce Blakeman for New York governor instead of Kathy Hochul, pointing to the city's economic and social decline.

The Brooklyn-born actress, long known as a high-profile Democratic donor and anti-Trump voice, has broken ranks. She is supporting Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul this November.

The New York Post reported that Messing appeared in a video with Blakeman and spoke at a recent Manhattan fundraiser hosted by dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot, delivering a direct endorsement of the Republican.

Messing told Blakeman the state needs a change of direction.

"I am so grateful you are running. You are what we need more than anything."

She framed the choice around daily costs and a city she no longer recognizes. That message lands at a moment when other Democrats have also broken with party orthodoxy on key fights, including high-profile splits over technology and national strength.

Messing says New York is no longer the city she loves

Messing did not hedge. She described a steep slide in New York City over the last four years and tied it to jobs, social life, and the basic ability to stay.

"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."

She still called the Big Apple the “city I love,” then added the line that cut hardest: “It’s not the city I love anymore.”

Cost of living sat at the center of her pitch. Messing said people are “just really struggling” and need lower utility bills. She praised Blakeman for putting affordability first.

"It’s just too expensive to live in New York City, and I love the fact that is at the top of your mind."

She also called him “the affordable campaign, candidate” and said she believes “in all my heart that you are the answer.” Congestion pricing, the $9 toll to enter Manhattan, was part of the pressure she alluded to as families and businesses weigh whether to stay.

Blakeman ties the endorsement to safety and Jewish New Yorkers

Blakeman thanked Messing and called her “iconic” for having the courage to speak out. He cast her support as more than a celebrity photo op.

"She is trying as hard as she can to save New York and to make sure it’s safe for Jewish people who live in this community and in this state."

Blakeman is a staunch supporter of Israel. Messing, who is Jewish, has been outspoken since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. She put up hostage signs in Manhattan and urged far-left students to leave the posters alone after some were torn down.

That record sits beside her earlier politics. Messing once stumped for Hillary Clinton, donated to Cynthia Nixon’s 2018 gubernatorial run, and later endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his failed mayoral bid against left-wing Mayor Zohran Mamdani. She has blasted Mamdani in harsh terms and is no fan of his record. High-profile Democratic fractures of this kind are no longer rare, as when party strategists openly discuss whether leading figures will walk away.

Hochul’s camp brushes off the snub

Hochul’s campaign did not treat the endorsement as a crisis. Spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki pointed to small-dollar support and cast Blakeman as a Trump-aligned threat.

"We’re proud that New Yorkers from across all 62 counties, with an average online donation of $22.38, are standing with Governor Hochul in her fight to bring down the cost of housing, childcare, car insurance and more, and stop her ‘MAGA all the way’ opponent from letting Donald Trump attack New York, jack up prices, and threaten public safety."

The statement leaned on volume of online donors rather than answering Messing’s concrete complaints about utilities, business flight, and people packing up. It also tried to nationalize a local endorsement. Voters watching Democrats cross lines on procedure and policy have seen this movie before, including when two House Democrats backed a GOP procedural move that advanced the other party’s agenda.

Blakeman’s tax vow and the November stakes

Last week Blakeman vowed that if voters elect him in November, he would eliminate state taxes on the first $50,000 of income for single filers and the first $100,000 for married couples. His campaign notes that average income for married couples in 45 of New York’s 62 counties sits under $100,000, so the cut would reach deep into the middle of the state, not only the suburbs.

That pitch matches the affordability theme Messing stressed. It also draws a clean contrast with Hochul’s record on housing, insurance, and city costs that residents feel every month. Party discipline fights and redistricting losses have already shown how quickly Democratic advantages can erode when voters decide the status quo is not working, a pattern visible as Republicans padded their House edge through map fights Democrats could not stop.

Messing’s own past includes a 2019 social media demand for a public list of attendees at a Beverly Hills fundraiser for Donald Trump, a move that drew backlash and McCarthyism charges. She had been a steady Trump critic for years. Backing a Republican who boosts Trump now marks a sharp turn driven by local conditions she says have deteriorated on Democrats’ watch.

A celebrity endorsement with a policy edge

Celebrity nods often fade by Election Day. This one is different because Messing named the problems voters already recite: businesses leaving, utilities too high, the city feeling less safe and less livable, and a sense that Albany has stopped delivering results for people who still call New York home.

Blakeman is running as the county executive who will put affordability and public safety first. Messing, an NYU alum and lifelong New Yorker, is telling her old party that loyalty no longer outweighs what she sees on the street. When even longtime Democratic stars start auditioning Republican alternatives, the pressure lands on incumbents who spent years insisting the trajectory was fine.

New Yorkers do not need another press release about average online donations. They need leaders who treat rising costs, business flight, and neighborhood safety as the main event, not a branding problem to spin away.