Nancy Pelosi Partially Blames Kathy Hochul for Democrats Losing the House

According to the Times’ interview, Pelosi overtly stated that “she believed the Democrats could have held onto the House in November if top New York pols had realized that the key issue in that state was crime,” per the report.

“That is an issue that had to be dealt with early on, not 10 days before the election,” Pelosi said. She also appeared to place a decent share of blame on Gov. Hochul, adding,  “The governor didn’t realize soon enough where the trouble was.”

While it is true that Hochul defeated Republican challenger former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) in the Empire State’s gubernatorial race, it was a relatively narrow victory for the Democrat historically speaking, as it stood as one of the closest gubernatorial races in New York in the last two decades. 

Despite Zeldin’s loss, his campaign and voice helped pave the way for Republican wins across the entirety of the state, as Breitbart News detailed. Republicans secured 11 House seats in the state, flipping a handful of seats, including one held by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY).

“We flipped 4 NY Congressional seats, broke the supermajority in the State Senate, and received the most votes of any GOP candidate since Nelson Rockefeller. Team Zeldin put in max effort every day and has no regrets. It was such an honor to lead this year’s ticket,” Zeldin said:

We flipped 4 NY Congressional seats, broke the supermajority in the State Senate, and received the most votes of any GOP candidate since Nelson Rockefeller. Team Zeldin put in max effort every day and has no regrets. It was such an honor to lead this year’s ticket. https://t.co/bpOTFBrh9F

— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) November 10, 2022

Throughout his campaign, Zeldin highlighted the issue of violent crime across the state. 

“I’ll tell you what: A lot of people are telling me that they’re keeping their head on a swivel more than ever before,” Zeldin said on the campaign trail. “People are walking these streets in a way like they’re in a combat zone.”

Months prior to the election, Zeldin told the New York Post that he might declare a state of “emergency” on crime, attempting to reverse the damage done by the Democrats’ bail-reform laws.

Prior to the election, data found crime in New York City alone increasing, with burglary up 29.1 percent, rape up 10.9 percent, and robbery up 32.4 percent. 

Hochul, however, remained in denial. 

“There are individual cases, but compared to pre-pandemic and when this was passed, I don’t think there’s a real disparity,” she said during an appearance on CNN at the time. 

All the while, rumors swirled that New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) actually hoped for Zeldin to win despite publicly backing Hochul due to the Republican’s commitment to tackling the crime issue.