The New York gubernatorial race has tightened, with Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin gaining with independent and White voters against Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to a Siena College poll released Tuesday.
Zeldin is now within 11 points of Hochul three weeks before Election Day, the poll of 707 likely New York voters found, showing the race closing from the 17-point gap recorded last month. The Republican had been down in the polls as much as 24 points in August.
NEW YORK GOVERNOR RACE BETWEEN GOV. HOCHUL AND REP. ZELDIN TIGHTENS TO ‘TOSS UP’
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., participates in the annual West Indian Day parade on Sept. 5, 2022, in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City.
(Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
The Siena College poll, taken Oct. 12-14, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
The poll showed Zeldin increasing his lead among independent voters to nine points, solidifying support among White voters who are roughly split between the two candidates.
NEW YORK GOV. KATHY HOCHUL SAYS STATE’S MIGRANT CRISIS NEEDS ‘FEDERAL SOLUTION’
Hochul holds a heavy lead in New York City, and Zeldin has a slight edge, though within the margin of error, in the New York suburbs.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
(John Lamparski/Getty Images)
The Republican was endorsed on Sunday by former President Trump — who is a key factor in 2022 midterm elections nationwide.
The endorsement comes just three weeks from Election Day and a week after a shooting outside Zeldin’s home on Long Island added momentum to his tough on crime campaign.
Incumbent Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin.
(Getty Images)
During an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Maria Bartiromo asked what Zeldin’s first 100 days in office would look like. Zeldin said his plans are far more immediate than that.
“I want to do everything I possibly can in the first 100 minutes,” Zeldin said. “I want to have a very active day one. I just announced a couple days ago that as soon as I am sworn into office I’m going to be declaring a crime emergency here in the state of New York, I’m going to suspend New York’s cashless bail laws and some other pro-criminal laws that have been passed, force the legislature to come to the table to negotiate an improvement because we have to take back our streets.”
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
