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Thursday, March 28, 2024

NY Gov Race Heats Up as Zeldin Catches Up to Hochul in the Polls

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Edited by: Fern Sidman

As the New York gubernatorial race heats up and with only two short months until the November elections, it was recently reported by the New York Post that Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island is closing in on incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul , according to a poll released on Saturday.

At this juncture in the hotly contested race for the state’s highest office, the survey conducted by the independent Trafalgar Group indicated that Hochul has only a four point advantage over Zeldin which marks a significant narrowing in a race that has seen Hochul with a lead of up to 24 points, as was reported by the Post.

The Trafalgar poll which was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday of last week spoke to 1,091 New Yorkers who are likely to cast their votes in the general election in early November. The results of the poll indicated that Hochul has 47.8% of the vote, with Zeldin at her heels at 43.4% of the votes, the Post reported.

If things don’t change all that much from now until election day, the chances of Zeldin clinching the election are significantly increasing.

The Post also reported that an additional 2.7% of respondents said they support Libertarian Larry Sharpe, with 6.7% undecided.

Kathy Hochul was the running mate of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned his office due to the growing scandal surrounding multiple charges of sexual harassment leveled against him by numerous women in state government. Photo Credit: AP

Things have indeed changed a great deal since the last poll of New York voters was taken on August 23rd. That poll, which was conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of WNYT-TV in Albany showed that the current governor of the Empire State has 55% of the support from voters, and Zeldin has 31% of the backing of voters, the Post reported. 14% of voters polled were undecided on who they will pull the lever for on election day,

Taking to social media to disseminate the results of the polling last week, Rep. Zeldin posted on Twitter and Facebook, “People are fed up with Hochul’s feckless leadership.”

“ This poll underscores our unprecedented momentum. I know the… numbers are surprising,” Trafalgar Group pollster Robert Cahaly tweeted Saturday, according to the Post report.

“But we at Trafalgar Group have seen a big shift in favor of non incumbents since Biden announced his #studentloanforgiveness package,” Cahaly continued, according to the Post. “No other issue this cycle has enraged middle and working class voters more than this.”

The Post reported that he added in his tweet that the  “numbers are surprising” but said there’s been “a big shift in favor of non incumbents” in the wake of President Biden’s decision last month to cancel as much as $20,000 in student debt per borrower.

On Labor Day in Brooklyn, Hochul made a perfunctory appearance at the annual West Indian parade in the Crown Heights section of the borough but refused to answer a question from a Post reporter, the paper said.   She also did not shake hands with parade attendees nor did she speak with reporters from other outlets who were covering the event.

The Post reported that she was asked whether she’ll be willing to engage in a debate with challenger Zeldin on the issues that are paramount to the lives of New Yorkers.

A Hochul spokeswoman noted that the governor briefly spoke to reporters at a pre-parade breakfast and claimed she didn’t hear The Post’s question as she got into her SUV, as was reported by the Post.

“The governor regularly and frequently answers questions from the press, including earlier today and two separate press availabilities on Thursday, and while she did not hear this particular question as she was leaving the parade, she looks forward to once again answering questions from the press at her next availability tomorrow,” spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays told the Post.

Hochul’s campaign in mid-August said she “looks forward” to facing off in debates against Zeldin but wouldn’t say if she’ll agree to his plan for five debates across the Empire State.

The Post reported that CBS New York and PIX11 TV stations have offered to host and broadcast one debate each.

On Tuesday, the Post reported that Hochul refused to say why she hasn’t answered Lee Zeldin’s demand for five debates across the state — saying only that she’s “willing to debate” her Republican challenger.

The paper reported that Hochul’s campaign is planning to run a $2 million in ads for both English and Spanish speaking voters in New York.

Speaking to the Post, GOP political consultant William O’Reilly, who isn’t working for Zeldin, said, “Governor Hochul thinks she can run a Rose Garden strategy, but she does so at her own peril.” He added that, “New Yorkers expect their candidates to debate, and they don’t look kindly on those who try to squirrel out of them. As an unelected governor, Mrs. Hochul has an added obligation to voters, but at this point, she doesn’t seem to care. She thinks she can coast to victory, and that could be a very costly mistake.”

He added that  “I’d expect all pistons to be firing on the advertising front from both campaigns by mid month, and that will continue right up until election day. With summer over and schools beginning, the ad war begins in earnest.”

After Hochul dashed off into an SUV with tinted windows on Sunday and and not responding to reporters’ questions, Rep. Zeldin said, “What is Kathy Hochul so afraid of? She could easily accept the CBS2 and PIX11 debate requests today!” Appearing at the same parade, Zeldin appeared quite accessible to parade goers and media inquiries, according to the Post report.

“Voters deserve the ability to make an informed decision about the future of our state, to learn first hand where the two candidates stand on the issues most important to them and cast their vote accordingly,” he added.

In response, Hochul’s campaign issued the same statement as they had last month, the Post reported. “As she has in every election throughout her career, Gov. Hochul looks forward to debating Congressman Zeldin this fall,” the statement read.

“New Yorkers need to hear about Lee Zeldin’s allegiance to the MAGA agenda and far-right record on guns and abortion rights and Gov. Hochul will deliver that message to voters ahead of November,” the statement added, as was reported by the Post.

Hochul’s campaign was alluding to Zeldin’s public and vocal support of former President Donald Trump. On Sunday, Trump headlined a fundraiser to Zeldin at the home of the family of the former president’s long time friend Stanley Chera on the Jersey Shore. Trump was joined by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and New York Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, to name a few. Trump raised over $1.5 million for Zeldin in the hopes that he can catch up to the massive amount of money in Hochul’s coffers.

The Post also reported that during a press conference at Penn Station in Manhattan, Hochul said, “I’ve already said I’m willing to debate. I always debate. This is my 14th election. I actually look forward to debates. It’s going to happen.”

Expressing his support for Hochul at the Manhattan news conference was MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, who was nominated to his post by Hochul in January, as was reported by the Post.

“I hope when the debate comes around, we’ll be talking about the fact that Zeldin, alone among New York regional Republicans, didn’t vote for the infrastructure bill,” Lieber said. He added that, “That is a concern to us, especially, who are trying to rebuild the MTA and the transit system. So I hope that’s going to be part of the debate.”

On Sunday, Republican state Chair Nick Langworthy said,  “There’s a whole lot of Democrats that want to declare this race, dead and over with – but they ain’t seen nothing yet,” according to the Post report.

Former President Donald Trump is greeted on the tarmac by Congressman Lee Zeldin and Maria Moore, Mayor of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton in 2018. Photo Credit: AP

The Post learned that a union backing Hochul is touting her record in office in a new 30-second spot landing upstate and on Long Island Tuesday where a recent Siena Poll showed Zeldin with a single-digit edge. The ad which costs $300,000 comes from a PAC backed by the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters which is slated for Democrats this November, the Post reported.

Speaking to the Post on Monday, political consultant Jake Dilemani said, “History tells us the ad war is going to enter its hot phase this month. Depending where you are in the state, you’re about to be inundated.”

Langworthy also told the Post on Monday, “When ad buys are made, everyone will know about it because it will be a matter of public record. He’s nearing somewhere around a total of 15 million raised,” he added about Zeldin.

The Post repored that last month former GOP state Chair Ed Cox, former Rep. John Faso and political operative Jason Weingartner formed a PAC to help the Zeldin campaign during the Hochul ad blitz. Cox is also the son-in-law of the late President Richard M. Nixon.

In a text to the Post on Monday, Zeldin spokeswoman Katie Vincentz said,  “Despite Gov. Hochul’s pay to play corruption and eagerness to sell access to Albany, Congressman Zeldin is the best funded Republican challenger for statewide office ever. Congressman Zeldin is going to have all of the resources he needs to Fire Kathy Hochul.”

The Post on Monday also reported that while both campaigns declined to give total fundraising figures, campaign filings from mid-July showed Hochul, who has also raised millions in recent weeks, with $11.7 million on hand compared to $1.6 million for Zeldin.

Ahead of the highly consequential midterm elections on November 8th, both the Zeldin and Hochul campaigns are spotlighting issues they feel are crucial to the lives of all New Yorkers including rampant crime, bail reform laws, tax reform and education among others.  Additionally, the midterm elections will determine control of the U.S. House, the state Legislature as well as statewide offices like governor, the Post reported.

On the issues of spiraling crime statistics, bail reform and support for law enforcement, Zeldin has taken Hochul to task for throwing her support behind far-left, progressive policies that have resulted in a dramatic spike in crime, particularly in New York City and the surrounding suburbs. The Long lsland congressman has also challenged Hochul to take definitive stands on issues like a proposed repeal of qualified immunity for police officers, the Post reported.

He has also tried to leverage alleged pay-to-play schemes involving the governor to transform her big cash advantages into a liability with voters, the Post reported.

While Hochul may be more familiar to voters, Zeldin has been on the campaign trail intently listening to the concerns of New York voters and his impressive congressional record has garnered attention for his vast accomplishments.

Rep. Zeldin grew up in Suffolk County, New York, where he graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach. He graduated from the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY) and then Albany Law School, becoming New York’s youngest attorney at the time at the age of 23.

After completing the Army ROTC program, Zeldin served four years on Active Duty. During that time, he served in different capacities, including as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor and Military Magistrate. While assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, in the summer of 2006, Zeldin was deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following his service on active duty, in 2007, Zeldin transitioned from Active Duty to the Army Reserve, where he currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel.

In 2008, Zeldin opened a successful law practice in Smithtown, New York, which he operated full time until he was elected to the New York State Senate in 2010, representing New York’s 3rd Senate District. As a State Senator, Zeldin led the successful effort to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, a job killing tax that was hurting New York’s small businesses. He also created the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program, a peer to peer counseling program for veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI); the program started in Suffolk County and quickly expanded across the state. Zeldin also successfully fought to repeal the Saltwater Fishing License Fee; a victory for tens of thousands of fishermen on Long Island.

In 2014, following four years in the State Senate, Zeldin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York’s First Congressional District.

Throughout his tenure in Congress, Rep. Zeldin has continued to secure important victories for his district. He has championed the successful effort to save Plum Island, steered a $2 billion Electron Ion Collider (EIC) to Brookhaven National Lab (BNL), and ushered into law his Adult Day Health Care Act to aid veterans who are 70% of more disabled and his bill to safeguard veterans’ homeownership opportunities. Zeldin also secured a new veterans health care clinic on the East End of Long Island, saved a vital communications spectrum for local first responders, helped lead the effort to permanently reauthorize the Zadroga Act and Victim Compensation Fund for 9/11 first responders and their families, and advanced several vital Army Corps projects for his district, including the over $1 billion Fire Island to Montauk Point (FIMP) project.

His office has also successfully resolved over 15,000 cases in favor of NY-1 constituents.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. Photo Credit: House Television via AP

Congressman Zeldin serves on two Committees in the House of Representatives: Financial Services and Foreign Affairs, where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Additionally, Congressman Zeldin serves as co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus and founding member of the National Estuary Program Caucus and as one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, also serves as co-chairman of the House Republican Israel Caucus, which has over 100 members, and has been a stalwart opponent of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, coleading a House passed resolution (H.Res.246) to combat it.

Congressman Zeldin resides in his hometown of Shirley with his wife, Diana, and their twin daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.

 

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