Wait, We’ve Gotta Worry About The New York Gov Race, Too? Well F*ck A Duck!

We’re not in the best New York state of mind.

We haven’t covered much of the New York gubernatorial race, because c’mon, it’s freaking New York. Surely, that’s still a lock for Democrats even in the reddest of red waves? Maybe, maybe not. New York had a Republican governor more recently than Oregon, where Fox News darling Christine Drazan might actually win, so maybe we should take a closer look.

Cook Political Report still rates New York as “solid Democrat,” but a recent poll from SurveyUSA and News10NBC shows the race tightening. Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul is leading Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin by just six points, 47 to 41 percent, with eight percent of voters undecided. Just two months ago, Hochul was up 24 points. It’s not the governor’s fault the excellent Strange Loop is closing on Broadway. 

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Zeldin is a Big Lie-promoting fascist who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. He’s blamed Democrats for the January 6 Capitol attack, presumably because Democrats had the audacity to win elections. Zeldin is a longtime Donald Trump supporter. Back in 2015, he praised the incoherent ramblings that passed as Trump’s foreign policy. He defended Trump when even other Republicans would say, “Hey, that’s a little too racist.” He volunteered to help Trump's defense against impeachment, which is steady work.

It’s revealing that a candidate like Zeldin is within striking distance of Hochul. A “defund the police” socialist candidate wouldn’t even poll in double digits against a Republican in Tennessee.

Republican George Pataki branded himself “pro-choice” when he ran for New York governor in 1994. Zeldin is overtly anti-abortion, voting in favor of 20-week abortion bans. He’s said he wouldn’t mess with abortion rights as governor but instead simply follow existing law, which we call the Drazan Double Speak Side Step. Now that Roe’ s been overturned, we need governors who will actively defend abortion rights. Hochul has increased funding for abortion-rights programs to help clinics absorb an increase in cases from states with Republican-passed forced-birth laws. Zeldin has told supporters he’d deny state funding to Planned Parenthood. He’s even suggested appointing an anti-abortion health commissioner.

Zeldin, predictably, downplays abortion as an issue and focuses instead on crime and inflation. Republicans can blame Democrats for these problems but are never held accountable for fixing them. It’s a great racket they have going.

Here’s Hochul actually addressing public safety:  

“We’ve taken bold action to protect New Yorkers from gun violence. From investing in law enforcement, to strengthening our laws, to supporting community-based programs, I’ll keep working every day to keep our communities safe.”

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@Governor Kathy Hochul) 1666295415 

Hochul is still favored to win, but we can’t relax completely. Disgraced scumbag Andrew Cuomo won re-election in 2018 with 59 percent of the vote. His Republican opponent Marc Molinaro managed a piddly 36 percent. The lopsided result was consistent with past Democratic victories since 2002, when that other disgraced scumbag Eliot Spitzer crushed John Faso 65 percent to 27 percent.

If Hochul does only win by single digits, there would be major down-ballot repercussions. Last week, Cook Political Report moved  moved New York’s Fourth Congressional District from Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat. Rep. Kathleen Rice announced in February that she wasn’t running for re-election, opening up her Long Island seat. It’s plausible that Zeldin could win the fourth district, which means Republican Anthony D’Esposito could also win against Democrat Laura Gillen. Ticket-splitting has gotten rarer over the years, and unlike Rice, Gillen lacks the advantage of incumbency. Biden won Rice’s district 55 percent to Trump’s 43 percent, which shows you how much ground Democrats have lost since then.

Zeldin’s campaign has benefitted from numerous appearances on Fox News, where according to the New York Times “conservative stars are made and grass-roots donations are seeded.” That’s a rather benign description of a Republican propaganda outlet masquerading as a news channel. Maybe Jimmy Kimmel could have Hochul read some mean tweets. The fate of democracy might rely on it.

[ New York Times / Politico ]

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