Hochul up 13 points on Zeldin in latest poll
The left-wing pollsters at Data for Progress have Governor Kathy Hochul leading her GOP challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin by 13 points in the November general election, according to a new survey they released Thursday.
Of the 931 likely voters polled, Hochul nabbed 52 percent support, while Zeldin got 39 percent, with 9 percent undecided.
The current governor has led by double-digits in several recent public polls, including a Public Policy Polling survey Monday and an Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill poll last Friday that both showed her with a 15-point edge over Zeldin.
While a couple of other recent polls have shown Zeldin – who represents Suffolk County in Congress – closing the gap with Hochul to single digits, questions have been raised about the validity of those surveys.
For instance, a poll from the Trafalgar Group – that put Zeldin just 4 points behind his Democratic rival – included Libertarian Party candidate Larry Sharpe, who won’t be on the November ballot.
The other poll that put Zeldin within striking distance of Hochol – 6 points – was from co/efficient, a right-leaning polling firm.
In other election news this week, Zeldin released his first TV ad – as part of a seven-figure buy – focussing on what he views as Hochul’s poor performance on getting high crime under control. According to a published report, Zeldin swatted back criticisms of the ad, which is supposed to show violence on the streets of New York, because it apparently included a clip from California.
“One clip, a local news outlet had shown a clip that was in a story about attacks on Asian Americans in New York City,” Zeldin said. “Once it was brought to our attention, that one clip, and there are 13 different clips in our TV ad, that was swapped out.”
Zeldin headlines Brooklyn GOP Gala
Republican gubernatorial nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin is headlining this weekend’s Brooklyn GOP Gala at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island.
The gala comes in an election year, where the borough’s Republicans and Conservative Party members are increasingly optimistic about both Zeldin and a number of down ticket races in South Brooklyn.
Among these races is 24-year Navy Reserve and Afghanistan veteran Lester Chang, taking on Assembly Member Peter Abbate, who has been in office 34 years in the 49th assembly district covering the growing Asian-American neighborhoods of Borough Park, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park and Bensonhurst.
While it’s going to be tough to unseat the longtime incumbent, Chang is running a strong grassroots campaign and this is the most competition Abbate has had in years. Abbate also didn’t help himself when he recently took Chang to task for wearing his Navy Uniform to a Sept.11 Memorial gathering by remarking, “Isn’t it too early to be dressing up for Halloween?”
Additionally, the GOP has solid, relatively well-financed candidates challenging longtime incumbents Assembly Members Bill Colton and Steve Cymbrowitz in the 45th and 47th Assembly districts, and Assembly Member Mathylde Frontus in the 46th Assembly district. They are Michael Novakhov (45 AD), Alec Brook-Krasny (46 AD) and Dmitriy Kugel (47AD).
Meanwhile, there are two open state senate seats in South Brooklyn. They are the 17th district where Democrat Irine Chu is facing off against Republican Vito LaBella, and the 23rd district where Democrat Jessica Scarcella-Spanton is up against Republican Joseph Tirone.
“I think that all of those people [Republican candidates] have a good shot, and I’m not just saying that, because I’m the county chair,” said Brooklyn Conservative Party Chair Fran Vella-Marrone. “I think that people in those communities are really receptive to the Conservative and Republican viewpoints out there right now. It’s really all about crime, the economy and education. Those are three things that people are really concerned with. I mean, you can’t live in a community if you don’t feel safe, right? You can’t live in the community if you can’t afford it. And you certainly can’t live in a community if you don’t have the right education for your children.”
