Zeldin hammered the governor on Tuesday night over rising crime rates across the state as Hochul attacked the congressman for his record on guns. Zeldin, who has recently surged in the polls, has made public safety a key campaign issue, holding nearly daily press conferences outside New York City subway stations to stress violent crime that he argues Hochul has failed to address.
His attacks and focus on crime—which has emerged as a leading issue among New York voters—has upended the governor’s race in New York, threatening the Democratic stronghold for the first time in two decades. It’s not only in New York where this GOP strategy has worked. Crime is a theme that Republicans in tight Senate and governor races across the nation have found success with.
Hochul is still ahead in the polls according to the most recent prediction from FiveThirtyEight, but Zeldin has managed to rapidly close the gap between him and the incumbent governor, trailing by only 7.4 points as of Monday, compared to the 18.4-point lead Hochul held just eight weeks ago.
Zeldin slammed Hochul for failing to “actually locking up criminals” and handcuff violent individuals so that “people can go walk the streets of Manhattan.”
In response to Zeldin’s attacks, Hochul honed in on her GOP opponent for his congressional votes on gun safety, arguing that “there is no crime fighting plan if it doesn’t include guns.”
“You didn’t even show up for votes in Washington, when a bipartisan group of enlightened legislators voted for an assault weapon ban,” the Democratic governor said to Zeldin.
“We lost another child and a teacher yesterday in St. Louis because people will not support what I was able to get done here in New York, and that is a ban on assault weapons for teenagers,” she said, referring to Monday’s school shooting. “You can’t even do that. It’s quite extraordinary, but it’s about getting the guns off the streets.”
Zeldin hit back at the Democrat for believing that the only crimes that are being committed are those involving guns.
“You get people who are afraid of being pushed in front of oncoming subway cars. They’re being stabbed and beaten to death on the street with hammers,” the Republican candidate said. “Go talk to the Asian American community and how it’s impact them, with the loss of lives. Jewish people targeted with raw violent antisemitism on our streets.”
“We need to be talking about all of these other crimes but instead Kathy locals too busy patting herself on the back job well done,” Zeldin said.
Update 10/25/22, 8:17 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and background.
Newsweek reached out to the campaigns of Hochul and Zeldin for comment.
