As NY Gubernatorial Race Heats Up, Disaffected Democrats Sideline Hochul in Favor of Lee Zeldin
Edited by: Fern Sidman
As crime continues to spiral out of control in New York and the “woke, progressive” camp have hijacked city policies, some middle of the road Democrats in solid blue New York state are now expressing their disappointment with their party’s nominee for governor, Kathy Hochul by throwing their support behind Republican challenger, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), as was reported by the New York Post.
The New Era Democrats held on a press conference on Monday, the Post reported and their president, John Orlando said, “We have a Democratic machine that has gone far too left – too extreme for even those moderate Democrats.”
The New Era Democrats are based in Brooklyn and while in the past they have offered their support to far-left wing candidates such as former New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio and former presidential candidate and former candidate for New York City mayor, Andrew Yang, in the upcoming gubernatorial race, they have opened their minds and pocket books to Zeldin as the race heats up, the Post reported.
Hosting Zeldin at his church in the Bronx last week, the Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr, a former New York City councilman said, “Lee is my candidate. He’s against crime. Hochul’s for crime. She refused to make any major changes to the bail law,” as was reported by the Post.
For Hochul’s part, since the bail reform laws keep dominating the headlines due to repeat offenders being allowed to once again roam the streets, she has not directly responded to questions about public safety issues. She has remained mum of the repealing of qualified immunity and changing cash bail laws. The Post reported that she has said that the timing was not good to express an opinion on these matters. Zeldin has leveled harsh criticism against her for not addressing the issue of rising crime and the modification of the current bail reform laws.
Speaking to the Post, political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said, “Hochul’s no-response to crime attacks is likely giving the Republican what he wants.”
When queried by the Post on Monday, a spokeswoman for Hochul did not provide a response.
The Post has speculated that if Zeldin should receive the much needed political backing from moderate voters as well as conservative Democrats, this could assist him in winning the gubernatorial race despite Hochul’s clear advantage in the fundraising department and her advantage in polling in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by roughly two-to-one.
Also on Monday, former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat, said: “I’m supporting Lee Zeldin. He’s the only choice with the mess New York is in. Does anyone believe that Hochul will make change and stand up to the radical wing of the Democratic Party?,” the Post reported.
The Post reported that earlier this month a Siena College poll showed Zeldin with a two-point lead among independent voters – 44% to 42% – and a three-point lead in upstate New York and in the suburbs. These figures arise in despite of Hochul’s overall 53% to 39% advantage in the poll of likely voters, the report indicated.
The Siena College poll also indicated that while Hochul and Zeldin each have 12% support from members of the opposite party, his 84% support among Republicans was higher than her 81% support among members of her own party. The Post reported that the poll had a margin of error of 3.5%.
While Hochul has made repeated attempts to paint Zeldin as a narrow minded extremist in the same vain as former President Donald Trump and who has publicly supported the Supreme Court decision in repealing Roe v Wade, political experts have said that in order for Zeldin to secure a victory in November, he will find it necessary to elicit support from more independent voters and disaffected Democrats, the Post reported.
If Zeldin should win in the upcoming election, that would take on historical significance as it would make him the first Republican since George Pataki to hold the state’s highest office, according to the Post report.
Also on Monday, political consultant Basil Smikle, Jr., a former executive director of the state Democratic Party said of Zeldin: “He positioned himself as the greatest of Trump acolytes in his primary which gives him no room to move to the center. Whatever disaffected or moderate Democrats there are, they’ll likely side with the party on issue of choice and fighting threats to democracy,” the Post reported.
