ALBANY, N.Y. — A pair of new polls show Gov. Kathy Hochul’s lead over U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin in the New York governor’s race narrowing as Election Day nears and crime remains voters’ biggest concern.
The incumbent Democrat’s once-comfortable buffer over her Republican challenger fell to just 11 points, down from 17% last month, according to a new Siena College poll released Tuesday.
A second poll put out by Quinnipiac University shows an even slimmer margin separating the pair, with Hochul holding a four-point edge over the conservative congressman from Long Island.
“In the blue state of New York, the race for governor is competitive,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Mary Snow said. “Democrats have cruised to victory in gubernatorial races since 2006, but Gov. Hochul’s narrow edge puts Republican Lee Zeldin well within striking distance of her.”
Both polls show Zeldin gaining ground in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 and a GOP candidate has not won statewide office in two decades.
Hochul drew 52% of likely voters, while Zeldin received 41% of support from respondents in the Siena poll. Last month, the split between the candidates was 54% to 37% in Hochul’s favor.
The Quinnipiac poll found 50% of likely voters in Hochul’s corner and 46% supporting Zeldin.
Zeldin appears to have gained ground in the suburbs surrounding the Big Apple since September and the pair are in a statistical dead heat upstate.
Both polls found the governor remains the front-runner in the five boroughs, but Zeldin garnered 37% among likely voters in the city, according to Quinnipiac.
Among issues impacting the election, crime is foremost on voters’ minds.
Roughly 28% of New Yorkers believe crime is the most urgent issue facing the state, the Quinnipiac poll found. Inflation came in second at 20%.
Zeldin has vowed to roll back the state’s cashless bail system and wants to dismantle other criminal justice reforms that prevent teens from being charged as adults and force prosecutors to hand over evidence in a timely manner.
Asked about the poll numbers, Hochul said she remains focused on “public safety as well as affordability, helping people deal with the challenges they have today.”
“I’m a sports fan — everybody knows that,” the governor said following a bill signing event in East Harlem. “I always run with that underdog mentality.”
The Buffalo native is seeking a full term in office after replacing disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year following his resignation in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.
Hochul, hoping to become the first woman elected governor in New York, and her campaign have painted Zeldin as too extreme to lead the state and centered their attacks against him on his ties to former president Donald Trump.
In a statement, a Hochul campaign spokesman stressed Zeldin’s links to Trump and noted that Hochul is still in the lead despite a flood of outside money.
”Despite $8 million in outside spending from right-wing groups pushing baseless lies, Gov. Hochul maintains a double-digit lead against her opponent,” campaign spokesperson Jerrel Harvey said. “With just three weeks until Election Day, the governor isn’t taking anything for granted and will continue to contrast her strong record of results with Lee Zeldin’s MAGA agenda.”
Meanwhile, Zeldin spoke outside a subway station in Jackson Heights, Queens, where a man died a day earlier after being struck by a train following a fight on the platform.
The congressman has made frequent appearances near crime scenes in the city in an attempt to highlight his plans to declare a “crime emergency.”
He said despite his low poll numbers in the city, that he will continue to campaign across the five boroughs and the rest of the state in the coming weeks.
“I find myself in the city almost every day,” he said. “I believe it’s very important to talk to everybody. I’ll meet with anybody. I’ll go to any community.”
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