Pro-Trump Rep. Lee Zeldin has high hurdles to clear in race to become New York’s next governor
This is the second in a four-part series examining the major candidates running in New York’s Republican primary for governor. The first, on Andrew Giuliani, can be read here. Primary Day is June 28.
In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two to one, Rep. Lee Zeldin has his work cut out for him in his run to become New York State’s next governor.
Zeldin, a four-term congressman selected by the state Republican Party as its choice in March, is against abortion and has suggested he’d appoint someone pro-life as the state’s next health commissioner if elected.
The Long Island politician is also against gun control measures, and — just weeks before a shooting in Buffalo that left ten dead — he declared his opposition to red-flag laws designed to keep firearms out of the hands of those deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) attends a press conference in Washington, D.C. on May 20, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/)
He is closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, and along with Trump, he contested the results of the 2020 presidential election — an effort that’s broadly come to be known as the “Big Lie.”
So how can Zeldin clear a path to the governor’s mansion in Albany?
The congressman’s campaign didn’t respond to several inquiries from the Daily News, but his surrogates offered some of their own thoughts on the “how” of the matter.
Nick Langworthy, chairman of the New York State Republican Party, said Zeldin’s “work ethic is second to none” and he suggested that having the infrastructure of the state GOP behind him wouldn’t hurt either.
“He’s got basically a built-in network in every corner of the state,” Langworthy said. “He closed 86% of the vote for the designation. That’s really a massive number. It’s much higher than in past contested elections.”
Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, far left, businessman Harry Wilson, Suffolk County Congressman Lee Zeldin, and Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, face off during New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of CBS2 TV in Manhattan, New York on Monday, June 13, 2022. (Bebeto Matthews/)
When asked about issues such as gun control, mass shootings and the congressional hearings into overturning the presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, Langworthy brushed them aside, arguing that inflation and crime are the issues voters are more concerned about.
“Nothing is killing us more than the high cost of energy and gas,” he said, adding that crime is the “A1″ issue downstate.
Many of the violent crimes Langworthy and other Republicans have blamed on Democrats are carried out with illegally obtained firearms. Zeldin has received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association and has received at least $29,700 from it for his congressional campaigns over the past several years. He also recently voiced his opposition to a state law that tightened firearms restrictions in 2013.
“New York’s SAFE Act is unconstitutional and must be REPEALED!” Zeldin tweeted on June 4.
U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin speaks to delegates and assembled party officials at the 2022 NYGOP Convention in Garden City, N.Y. on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (John Minchillo/)
Zeldin has also vowed to repeal cashless bail, a reform that took effect as state law in 2019 and which he and other Republicans argue has led to a spike in crime in New York — even though crime in other states, which didn’t pass such laws, has increased along the same timeline.
“The state’s gotta figure out why you have so many people looking to commit the crimes and crack down on it in the streets,” Langworthy said. “I mean you can blame the weapon or you can blame the criminal. New York City was a far safer place before all these changes to our criminal justice system took place.”
Before the changes Langworthy referred to occurred, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, a frequent target of Republicans, had been in office for more than four years in the Big Apple.
City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) said one of the reasons he’s backing Zeldin is his opposition to congestion pricing, a plan that would charge people a fee for driving their cars south of 60th St. Manhattan.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks to reporters after signing a legislative package to protect abortion rights in Manhattan, New York on Monday, June 13, 2022. (Mary Altaffer/)
Gov. Hochul, who supports the plan, applied the brakes to it last week, though, citing requirements outlined by the federal government as her rationale for doing so.
“I don’t know of any other candidate that’s discussed congestion pricing other than him,” Borelli said of Zeldin. “For people that live in the outer boroughs like me, if you live in Queens or Nassau, congestion pricing is going to be an epic disaster, and it’s going to punish New Yorkers who have the requirement to travel to work every day.”
Zeldin is facing former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, a former member of the Trump administration and the son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in the Republican primary, which is slated for June 28.
A recent Emerson College poll showed that Zeldin is leading the field with 34% support from potential voters. But experts contend that the far bigger challenge for him, if he wins, would be the general election in November.
Richard Flanagan, a CUNY political science professor, predicted that if Zeldin does win, he’d still take a “complete drubbing” in the general election thanks to his close ties to Trump and the fact that voters outside of Long Island know relatively little about him.
“I think he’s screwed because his track record is so Trumpy,” Flanagan said. “Even active Republican voters, I don’t think they think much about him, other than the fact that he’s a Trump guy.”
