State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, currently the longest-serving statewide official, is making the argument that experience counts as the Democrat seeks re-election.
But his Republican opponent, New York City businessman Joseph Hernandez, says DiNapoli hasn’t done enough to combat fraud and abuse in state government during his 19 years in office. And that the state pension fund is underperforming.
The comptroller oversees the fund and serves a watchdog function over the spending of state and local tax dollars.
“When you look at the performance of the S&P, for example, last quarter the S&P generated about 15% return,” Hernandez said during their only debate, which was televised by Spectrum News NY1. "Nasdaq generated 21%. So when you say you did well at 6.2%, that's not the full score.”
DiNapoli defended his stewardship.
“I've tried very hard to de-risk the fund as best as possible to provide that retirement security,” DiNapoli said during the debate. “We have an assumed rate of return of 5.9%, one of the lowest in the country. It means we don't have to take risky bets because there are market cycles.”
DiNapoli first took office in 2007, elected by the Legislature after the resignation of then-Comptroller Alan Hevesi. DiNapoli said he’s prided himself on cleaning up the office and rooting out fraud in state government.
“I want to continue our audits and our investigations to make government more cost-effective, reduce costs to our taxpayers, and hold wrongdoers accountable,” he said.
He highlighted the office’s work on Medicaid, citing 55 arrests and $44 million in recovered funds since 2023.
But Hernandez said the office has fallen short.
“The fraud and abuse in New York is out of control. It is ridiculous,” Hernandez said, pointing to the growth in the state budget over the past two decades. “We have to do something about it. Tom has not done anything for the last 20 years on this topic, and I intend to change that culture.”
Hernandez also argues that the Comptroller’s office could do more to boost economic development in the state. He wants to launch an Empire Opportunity Fund to invest in high growth areas like advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
“Things that are yielding high returns, so that we can bring some additional capital to the pensioners, and to reduce a tax burden that … our taxpayers are going to feel if we don't get good returns,” Hernandez said in an interview earlier this year.
DiNapoli said the office already does some private equity investments. He’s also focused on accountability for economic development projects, and audits he said have consistently raised the issue of the state doing "a great job of announcing projects, and not doing a good job of tracking what exactly has been the jobs being produced.”
“There needs to be more accountability there," DiNapoli said, “and that's certainly what our audits have called out.”
The latest Siena poll gives him a 27-percentage-point lead over Hernandez. Dinapoli has been the top vote getter among statewide candidates in each of the past three elections. Comptroller serves a four-year term.
If DiNapoli wins and serves another full term, he would be just short of the longest-serving comptroller in state history. Arthur Levitt, Sr. served as comptroller for six terms, from Jan. 1, 1955 to Dec. 31, 1978.
