New Poll Shows Zeldin Hanging Tough  in NY Gubernatorial Race

By: Jared Evan

The race for Governor has never been closer with recent polls showing that Republican Lee Zeldin is just points away from his rival, current Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul. The survey of 1,194 likely voters — conducted by the polling firm co/efficient — showed 49% backing Hochul, 43% supporting Zeldin and 8% undecided.

This poll means that Zeldin is within six points of Hochul. “It is a competitive race, more than most people assume. It’s an uphill battle for Zeldin but a winnable race,” said Ryan Muncie, president of the co/efficient polling firm. “The intensity of voters is definitely on the right but whether that’s enough to overcome the Democratic registration advantage remains to be seen”.

This is the second poll in recent weeks, which indicate the race is tightening. TJV previously reported in early September:

A poll which was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday on 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.

The conservative polling company has correctly predicted many key races in the past few years.

“With every new Hochul scandal, pro-criminal laws like cashless bail, DAs like Alvin Bragg refusing to enforce the law, and punishing taxes and an ever rising cost of living, New Yorkers are hitting their breaking point and getting more and more energized to fire Kathy Hochul and save our state,” Zeldin said to The New York Post, in response to the poll. He called Hochul “weak” and “out of touch” and said he’s the candidate “to save New York.”

Governor Hochul’s representatives offered no comment.

Muncie said the swing of New York independent and Hispanic voters to the GOP is consistent with a national trend, asserting independents are upset with Biden’s push to cancel college loan debt.

Polling showed a gender disparity: Hochul, the first female governor, led Zeldin among women, 55% to 36% while Zeldin led Hochul among men, 52% to 42%. Zeldin was 8 points ahead among white voters, 51% to 43%. Hochul had a huge edge among black voters, 86% to 13%. The congressman received support from 93% of fellow GOP voters while Hochul was backed by 83% of Democrats.

Another interesting note on the co/efficient poll , Zeldin leads by decent margins in every region of NY state except NYC, where the incumbent has a gigantic lead  and Hudson Valley, which shows a dead heat.  Zeldin has a large lead in West NY, the Capitol Region and Central NY, while Long Island shows Zeldin with a small lead co/efficient survey claims a much closer race than most other public polls conducted by colleges showing Hochul with a double-digit lead, though an April poll also predicted a close race.

The survey of 1,194 likely voters by co/efficient was conducted from Sept. 5 through Sept. 7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. Voters were queried via cell phone texts and landlines.

On Monday, Rep. Zeldin addressed the gathering at the Jerusalem Post annual conference that was held at Gotham Hall in Manhattan.

He addressed the issues of virulent anti-Semitism at the CUNY network of schools as well as his position on a possible new deal with Iran and his support for Israel.