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Republicans in New York State have opportunities to gain seats in the 2022 midterm elections amid rising crime and raging inflation under Democrats’ leadership, a new poll suggests ahead of the party’s nominating convention Monday.
Crime and the economy are the top issues in voters’ minds and the controversy over the Democrat-approved law eliminating cash bail for many crimes is a potential liability for Gov. Kathy Hochul and her party, according to the survey conducted by Triton Polling Research and obtained by The Post.
Asked if Hochul should overturn the progressive bail law — 63.5 percent agreed, while only 18.5 percent disagreed, with the rest of the 777 respondents having no opinion. Of that total, nearly half the voters — 46 percent — “strongly” agreed the bail law should be changed.
Nearly a third of voters — 32 percent — said public safety was the top concern, while 26 percent picked the economy, likely friendly turf for Republican candidates given the spike in crime and inflation that has occurred under Democrats’ watch in both the White House and statehouse.
“There’s a real opportunity for Republicans to win the governorship. They have a really good shot,” said Rob Cole, a GOP political consultant who commissioned the poll and a former top aide to former three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki.
Four GOP candidates are seeking the nomination for governor: Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Andrew Giuliani, who served in former President Donald Trump’s White House, and businessman Harry Wilson.
But the big challenge for Republicans? The party brand is unpopular in New York.
Nearly half the voters — 46 percent — said they disliked former President Trump and the Republican Party.
Another 21 percent of respondents combined said they disliked Trump or the GOP, even if they liked the other. Only 23 percent of likely voters pledged support to the Republican Party.
But Cole claimed voters’ concerns about real-life issues will win out — as it did last November when Republicans won the two races in Long Island for district attorney and GOP candidate Bruce Blakeman toppled former Democrat Nassau County Executive Laura Curran in a red wave election.
“The no-cash bail law, crime and pocketbook issues will out trump Trump,” he said.
The survey also found that if 76-year-old Pataki sought a comeback, he would trail Hochul by only five points — 47 percent to 42 percent with the rest undecided.
The automated poll of 777 likely voters, taken from Feb. 11 to 14, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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