Poll: Republican Lee Zeldin Closing in on Kathy Hochul in Final Stretch of NY Governor’s Race

Kathy Hochul, governor of New York, during a New York State Financial Control Board meetin
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) appears to be closing in on Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the final stretch of the gubernatorial race, a Trafalgar Group survey released this week revealed.

The survey asked respondents, “If the election for Governor were held today, for whom would you vote?”

According to the survey, 44.5 percent say they would vote for Hochul, while Zeldin garners 42.6 percent support — a difference of 1.9 percent. That is well within the survey’s +/- 2.9 percent of error. 

Another 3.2 percent show support for Libertarian candidate Larry Sharpe, and 9.7 percent remain undecided — a figure well large enough to determine the outcome of the race:

Further, the survey found Republican Michael Henry leading Democrat state Attorney General Letitia James in the state’s AG race:

The survey, taken September 30 to October 3, 2022, among 1,087 likely 2022 general election voters, is significant for Zeldin, as it shows significant gains in the last month alone. A co/efficient survey released last month, for example. showed Zeldin trailing by six percent, as Breitbart News detailed:

Forty-nine percent of the respondents said they would vote to elect the incumbent governor, and 43 percent said they would vote for Zeldin, who currently represents Eastern Long Island in the House. Eight percent said they were undecided.

A similar number of respondents viewed each candidate favorably, but Hochul had a higher unfavorability rating than Zeldin. Thirty-eight percent viewed Hochul favorably, while 45 percent viewed her negatively. At the same time, 36 percent said they viewed Zeldin favorably, while only 27 percent viewed him negatively.

The poll was taken the first week in September, right after Hochul came under fire for stretching ethics rules by receiving more than $475,000 in campaign donations from state officials appointed by her disgraced predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

While Hochul has publicly addressed the crime issues plaguing her state, contending it keeps her up at night, she has largely focused on gun control during her term, all while still deeming New York City the “safest big city in America.”

“But you have to look at the fact that this has been a nationwide phenomenon. Since the pandemic, crime has gone up everywhere, not just one state that happened to have some changes in their bail laws. So, we have to look at this in an honest way and say, well, New York City is still the safest big city in America,” she asserted during an appearance on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power.

Meanwhile Zeldin told the New York Post last month that, as governor, he may declare a state of emergency on crime. 

“One of the items … I would be consulting with counsel on is the option of declaring an emergency on crime where the cashless bail law can be suspended — but that is not plan A,” Zeldin said.

 “The problem with an [executive order] is that when the next governor comes in, they can get rid of it,” he added. “I believe that the law needs to change.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.