In the race for New York state comptroller, The Post endorses Republican businessman Joseph Hernandez over Democratic incumbent Tom DiNapoli.

It’s surely time for a change at that office: DiNapoli has served for a full 20 years, the second longest in state history.

And as New York’s top fiscal watchdog, he bears significant responsibility for the state’s pathetic — and worsening — fiscal condition.

Consider: The Empire State spends more, and owes more, per capita than nearly every other state.

Residents bear the nation’s absolute highest state- and local-tax burden.

Despite ever-rising levies, Albany faces a jaw-dropping $32 billion shortfall in revenue over the next three years.

Where’s DiNapoli been all these years?

Sure, his (never-read) reports often note the state’s fiscal woes

But you’ve never heard DiNapoli screaming from the rooftops about the state’s sorry fiscal affairs — let alone demanding lawmakers stamp on the brakes.

Because he’s a don’t-make-waves Democrat in an overwhelmingly Democratic state; that’s how he’s survived in office for so long.

Voters this year demand “affordability”: They want lower taxes, lower utility bills, lower costs overall.

That means they need a real comptroller, one who’ll take on the status quo, audit more aggressively for fraud and waste and use the bully pulpit to demand better fiscal management.

Hernandez is the man for that job.

A Cuban immigrant who ran for New York City mayor last year, he founded several tech and health-care companies and now serves as senior managing partner at Blue Water Venture Partners.

Thanks to his business and financial acumen, his blood boils over the fact that state debt now costs taxpayers a whopping $1.6 billion a year in interest alone.

He also blasts the billions lost in waste and fraud in New York’s Medicaid programs —- slamming the lack of probes not only by state Attorney General Letitia James, but also DiNapoli, who as comptroller has the power to audit the programs’ outlays and make referrals to prosecutors.

Hernandez believes the pension funds, which the comptroller oversees, would have produced better returns, saving taxpayers money, if DiNapoli hadn’t used “political filters,” like DEI, to make investments.

Clearly, Hernandez would do things differently — serving as a champion for average citizens, rather than a rubber stamp for Democrats and special-interest groups.

If voters truly want a break this year from high costs, endless fraud and political hackery, they’ll back outsider Joseph Hernandez for state comptroller.