When you tell 5.4 million state residents to hop a bus and not return, no wonder you’re having trouble connecting with your own voters.
Democratic Governor Kathy “Lockdown” Hochul of New York appears to be having a little trouble sealing the deal with voters as she enters the final stretch of her first statewide election bid.
Hochul took over when the former Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, resigned in disgrace amid allegations of sexual harassment and other charges of corruption and, um, murder.
In that regard, Hochul has been a placeholder, and a poor one at that. Republican Lee Zeldin, a sitting Congressman representing New York’s 1st congressional district, has been running a solid campaign and new polling puts him within four points of Hochul heading into a crucial post-Labor Day campaign stretch.
Back in August, we flagged a poll noting that Hochul was underperforming where she should be in such a deep blue state. Since that time, the trend has continued to cut against her.
According to the most recent Trafalgar poll of the race, Hochul is dropping while Zeldin continues broadening his support:
Zeldin 43.4% up from Siena July 39% (& Hochul 47.8% down from 53%) in poll by independent & proven accurate Trafalgar Group. This year, Real Clear Politics called Trafalgar “the most accurate pollster of the cycle among those firms that polled multiple senate & governor races.” pic.twitter.com/z5kKmM6bWW
— Ed Cox (@ChairmanEdCox) September 4, 2022
It also appears that Hochul has started ducking reporters and trying to limit her public exposure in recent weeks. Her most recent public appearance, at a New York City parade, saw her staying far away from prying questions:
Gov. Hochul dashed away from a Brooklyn parade today and ignored a shouted question from The Post — just days after a shock poll showed underdog challenger Lee Zeldin trailing her by just four points.
Unlike Mayor Eric Adams, Hochul stuck to her head-in-the-sand script and refused to break stride to press the flesh and speak with reporters while marching in the West Indian Day parade along Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
And when Hochul — who led a contingent of dignitaries behind a large banner bearing her name, title and official seal — got to New York Avenue, before the end of the route, she peeled off and darted to a waiting SUV.
The Democratic governor briefly turned her head in response to a shouted question from The Post asking when she’ll debate Zeldin, an outgoing Republican congressman from Long Island.
But she didn’t answer, got into the vehicle and was driven away behind its tinted windows.
It’s never a good sign when a sitting politician refuses to answer questions and refuses to answer whether they’d be willing to debate their challenger. Zeldin has been eager to debate, of course, as he needs the exposure.
Why can’t Hochul commit to giving the people of her state a chance to examine their options and make better-informed decisions about their leadership? Hochul’s not interested in that since she doesn’t appear to think she should actually be challenged.
In short, Hochul doesn’t have an agenda other than Trump-bashing or jumping on whatever the progressive trope of the day is. She’s supporting ground-breaking policies like imposing state-sanctioned language by replacing the word “inmate” with “incarcerated person” in the prison system as if that will help solve New York’s growing crime problem.
Hochul hasn’t done much for the people of her state other than offend millions of conservative voters by asking them to leave and go to Florida where, in her opinion, they belong.
Regardless of the circumstances, New York has been a heavy lift for Republicans statewide for many years and Zeldin will have to run a flawless campaign in the final stretch while Hochul continues to falter if he hopes to have a shot at victory.
The state has been run into the ground by one corrupt democratic governor after another since Republican George Pataki last held the governorship in 2006.
Can Zeldin break the drought and return some sanity back to the Empire State? Stay tuned.
