BRONX, N.Y. – Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is courting disaffected Democrats as he seeks to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, betting that frustration over affordability, crime and the party's leftward shift could help him make inroads with traditionally Democratic voters.

"They're not Democrats. They're socialists and communists," former Democratic Bronx Assemblyman Stephen Kaufman told Fox News Digital. "They're just not Democrats, they're not moderates."

Kaufman delivered the blistering criticism while rallying alongside Blakeman at the Crosstown Diner in the Bronx, where several voters expressed similar frustrations with Democratic leadership and said they were backing the Republican candidate.

"Every time I go out and meet the people, another Democrat comes up to me and says, 'Bruce, I'm a lifelong Democrat. I've never voted Republican in my life. We're voting for you,'" Blakeman told Fox News Digital.

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Kaufman accused the Democratic Socialists of America of gaining increasing influence over the party, warning that Democrats are "rapidly becoming a house of hatred" that no longer welcomes moderate voices.

Several Bronx voters who spoke with Fox News Digital echoed those concerns, pointing to rising costs, public safety and the Democratic Party's increasingly progressive direction as reasons they feel politically abandoned.

"It's not your Democratic Party anymore. It's not your grandfather's Democratic Party. It's become the Democratic Socialist, a.k.a. Communist Party," Lisa, a resident of the Bronx's Throggs Neck neighborhood, said.

"The socialists here literally said we’re land-hoarding if we only have a single-family home or a four-family home and that we were a problem… Kathy was all in support and quiet about it. She didn’t defend the homeowners," another man from the Bronx added.

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One registered Democrat said the party's failure to address the needs of working families was driving his political decisions.

"I'm a registered Democrat. Ask me if I vote that way," he said. "I vote to what affects me, my community, the people I live with. I vote who's going to help the middle class."

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Blakeman argued that growing frustration with Hochul's leadership has created an opening for Republicans in a state long dominated by Democrats.

"Kathy Hochul has raised taxes. She's raised utility rates 48 times. Programs like cashless bail make it easier for criminals to operate in our neighborhoods. So now I have the evidences. I have her report card and it's straight F's," said Blakeman.

Kaufman said that Hochul has embraced and catered towards the further left of her party.

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"The electricity rates have skyrocketed. She's had 42 increases over time. She wouldn't permit building of gas lines. She's closed utility plants. All she does is move harder and harder to the left. Which don't represent people in this neighborhood," he said.

"Every time she has a problem, she goes crying to the hard left. She's totally controlled by them," Kaufman added.

Blakeman, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital he would take the opposite approach, pledging to cut taxes and utility bills while making communities safer.

"I will cut taxes. I will cut utility bills. And I will make for safer communities just like I did in my own county as county executive," Blakeman said.

Blakeman pointed to his record as Nassau County executive, saying he has "not raised taxes a penny in five years" and has instead cut taxes by $150 million.

"I’ll take my record, compare it to hers," he said, arguing he would "cut their taxes, cut the utility bills and make safer communities."

The socialist wing of the Democratic Party has moved from the margins to positions of real political power, particularly in New York, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani became mayor and DSA-backed candidates went on to topple Democratic incumbents in congressional primaries.

The movement has also scored victories beyond New York, with DSA-backed Melat Kiros defeating longtime Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado and self-described democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George capturing the Democratic mayoral nomination in Washington, D.C.

Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul's office for comment.