Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin clashes with Lee Zeldin amid NYS GOP hopes for upset victory

Seeing the parallels to his own stunning victory last year, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was in New York on Monday to “pass the baton” to fellow Republican Lee Zeldin. polls show his campaign against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul it is now a clash.

“I’m here to pass the baton on to Lee Zeldin so he can become your next governor,” a gasping Youngkin told about 500 Zeldin supporters in Mount Pleasant. almost a year after his own epic victory in another blue-leaning state.

“Everybody on November 8th is going to watch something happen. It’s going to send a shock wave around the world,” Youngkin added.

Youngkin defeated former Gov. Terry McAuliffe last year with the help of red brands, one of which he gave to Zeldin Monday, and also a reaction of voters an infamous remark from his Democratic rival dismissing the role of parents in the creation of the education of their children.

Zeldin has campaigned heavily on crime and inflation — the two issues voters have repeatedly said in polls are most important to them — as he tries to become the latest Republican to defy political gravity to get elected. , like Youngkin and former New York Gov. George Pataki, in a state where Democrats have historically dominated.

Wooing Disaffected Democrats and independents will be keyPataki said Monday as he recalled his own upset victory over three-term Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1994.

“With your help, with your energy, with your support of Republicans, independent Democrats, from the left to the right, they understand that we need to change this thing. We will see on November 8 around 10 o’clock those same commentators who are drowning with their microphones,” Pataki said at the same rally.

Polls show Zeldin within single digits of Hochul — who became governor last year after the resignation of disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — despite registered Democrats outnumbering their GOP counterparts by about two to one statewide.

Both candidates reported about $6 million on hand by the end of the campaign, which ends Nov. 8.

“We have all the momentum in this race. We have all the energy in this race, and we have the problems on our side,” Zeldin told reporters after the event.

Congressional hopeful Mike Lawler – who is he? closed in a tight race against the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in Westchester – as well as Zeldin’s girlfriend Alison Esposito, AG candidate Michael Henry and Joe Pinion, who discussed US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer On Sunday night, everyone was talking at the rally.

Henry blamed Democratic Attorney General Letitia James for being the only state incumbent not to engage in a debate before the final day of voting on Nov. 8. confirmed that she messed up any debate.

Youngkin is among the growing number of big political names weighing in on the race for governor in New York, along with Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis appears with Zeldin in Long Island last weekend.

Democrats, meanwhile, had to call in the big guns in a race they never expected to need such resources, recruiting former President Barack Obama to record a robocall for Hochul, and with President Biden making two stops in the northern part of the state that helped promote his banner campaign.

The Democratic incumbent had emphasized abortion rights, gun control and Zeldin’s votes against certifying the 2020 presidential results, arguing that he would be too politically extreme to lead the Empire. State, until she recently pivoted to talk about crime, although it is largely related to demanding tighter gun control. law

Hochul, who won Zeldin funds, also recently resorted to saying that she runs like the “underdog” running

“There are not enough guns out there, according to Lee. Four hundred million guns in this country are not enough. He wants to arm all our teachers and have guns in our classrooms where our children have to learn. I am angry about this,” he said at an event Monday in Manhattan.

Recent surveys have highlighted both the problems crime and the economy remain top of mind for the voters.

Some attendees at Monday’s rally for Zeldin said they support him despite having some differences with him on issues like abortion, with an independent voter named Jane telling the Post she didn’t feel Hochul was focused enough about crime.

“I feel like Kathy Hochul is like, ‘Why is this so important to crime?'” Jane said in reference to a comment Hochul made in his recent debate against Zeldin. “All he’s focused on is abortion — and that’s not my immediate concern.”

Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer.