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Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for governor, has opened a commanding 31-point lead over his GOP rivals seeking to challenge him in a primary, according to a poll released by his campaign.
Zeldin garnered the backing of 45 percent of Republicans, followed by Andrew Giuliani and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino with 14 percent apiece, businessman Harry Wilson with 7 percent and the remaining 20 percent undecided.
The Zeldin campaign survey of 400 likely Republican voters was conducted by pollster McLaughlin & Associates. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
The poll queried Republican voters from March 8 to 13, after Zeldin captured 85 percent of the delegates’ vote at the state GOP convention on March 1.
Zeldin, an Army veteran and reservist elected to four terms representing Suffolk County in Congress after serving in the state Senate, also has the backing of the Conservative Party.
Zeldin on Monday released a general election survey claiming he could beat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The poll of the hypothetical matchup said the race would be a dead heat — with Zeldin at 45.5 percent support and Hochul 44 percent.
Hochul, the former lieutenant governor who replaced former three-term Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned under the threat of impeachment last August following a blizzard of sexual harassment and misconduct accusations, is the heavy favorite to defend the seat.
The presumptive Democratic Party nominee, Hochul faces a likely primary challenge from city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi.
“For almost a full year now, I have campaigned in every county of our state multiple times, received tens of thousands of grassroots donations, had thousands of New Yorkers sign up to volunteer, and have earned the trust and support of countless hardworking New Yorkers who are hitting their breaking point and seriously thinking about fleeing,” Zeldin said.
“I will not be outworked in this rescue mission to Save Our State. It’s impossible. I’m all in and I have a grassroots army of fed up New Yorkers who are with me to do our part to reverse the attacks on our wallets, safety, freedom and kids’ education.”
Meanwhile, Wilson, a late entry to the race, is rolling out TV ads while Astorino sent out a fundraising e-blitz sniping that Zeldin was a Cuomo Republican when he was a state senator.
“The establishment GOP’s anointed candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, was part of the problem in Albany. I like him, he’s a nice man, but when he was in the state Senate he was just another reliable RINO [Republican in Name Only] for Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Democrats. In fact, he voted more with Governor Cuomo in Albany than he did with President Trump in Washington,” Astorino said.
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