Guest post by Jason Grossman
New Yorkers began casting ballots Saturday morning for the start of early voting in the state. Polls opened at 9am across the city, with some polling places receiving voters almost immediately.
The tight New York Governor’s race between Republican Rep. Zeldin and incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul may be one reason driving voters to the polls.
The Gateway Pundit reported on the thousands of supporters that attended a campaign event Saturday night in Hauppauge in Long Island for Zeldin. The event featured Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who told the crowd that Democrat policies are “coddling” criminals and leading to residents move South.
“We need to focus more on supporting the rights of victims of crime and not be so concerned with the rights of the criminal.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Lee Zeldin will not coddle these people. He will hold them accountable and you will be safer as a result.”
“Democrats are running the city now,” said a man from Bay Ridge to the NY Post. “Crime is up, they’re focused on issues that aren’t important. The current administration is dropping the ball on every issue.”
Rep. Zeldin, speaking to a crowd of about 250 people Saturday at a rally in Middle Village, Queens, said there was a “crime emergency” in their state.
Last week, failed NY Governor Kathy Hochul responded to the very real concerns of rising violent crime in the state by dismissing their fears and suggesting that a few high-profile crimes have “created a sense of fear in people’s minds.”
“If Kathy Hochul will not declare it, if the state Legislature right now will not come to the table to fix it, we will make sure the State Legislature comes to the table on day one,” Rep. Zeldin said. “As soon as we are sworn into office, we will declare a crime emergency here.”
Crime has hit close to home for Zeldin. A man tried to stab him on stage at a campaign rally and two men were shot outside his home with his bullets landing near his teen daughters.
Zeldin told Fox News, “I find myself in the the most dangerous areas of New York State . And I am finding there are people there, often times kids, walking streets where the people who live there feel that the street has been surrendered to criminals. So the number one issue for this campaign that I’ve heard from New Yorkers is they want safe streets. They want to stop passing pro-criminal laws. They want District Attorneys doing their jobs. They want to support our men and women in law enforcement.”
One Lower East Sider wanted to vote early because he was worried about the potential for violence on Election Day on November 8th as reported by New York Post.
New York has not elected a Republican governor in 20 years but in the closing days of the campaign, there appears to be a late surge for the three-term congressman.
Recent polls suggest Zeldin is within striking distance of Hochul, who only holds a 50-46 percent lead. Predictably, Hochul has a dominant lead in New York City, the suburbs are split, and Zeldin is leading upstate. Voter turn-out across the state will be critical for Zeldin to oust the incumbent governor.