It was timely that the New York Conservative Party celebrated its 60th anniversary Tuesday night. Earlier that day, the Quinnipiac Poll came out and showed that the race for governor of the Empire State was the closest it has been this year.
Among likely voters, Quinnipiac showed, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul led Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin by a 50 to 46 margin. The Conservative Party has given Zeldin Row C, the third line on the state ballot.
(New York is one of five states that permit cross-endorsement of candidates by parties and aggregate counting of votes for candidates from different party lines).
The same poll showed Zeldin leading narrowly in the New York City suburbs as well as upstate and — most significantly — drawing 37 percent of the vote in New York City compared to Hochul’s 59 percent.
Historically, a Republican can win statewide in New York only if he or she gets at least one-third of the vote in the "Big Apple."
"I think the race is probably closer than that," Conservative State Chairman Gerard Kassar told Newsmax, adding that Quinnipiac Poll has historically been slanted to Democrats.
Spencer Abraham, Jr., co-owner of the Polling Monitor.com website that scrutinizes major polling agreed.
"Quinnipiac is weighted to the Democratic side," Abraham told us, concluding that the Hochul and Zeldin are probably in a statistical tie.
Activists gathered at the Conservative Party gala told Newsmax that Zeldin’s strong law and order message and the present inflation and economic doldrums have fueled his candidacy.
"And I’ve been working my butt off for Lee!" exclaimed Sally Hogan, corresponding secretary of the New York State Federation of Republican Women. Hogan told us how she has mobilized volunteers to canvass door-to-door, put up signs, and do the volunteer chores that sometimes seem antiques in the era of high-tech campaigning.
Conservatives, to a person, hailed Republican-Conservative lieutenant governor nominee Allison Esposito as an asset to ticket-mate Zeldin. A retired deputy inspector of the New York Police Department, Esposito’s hard-hitting speeches on crime fighting underscore the major theme of the Zeldin campaign.
Esposito also made history in becoming the first open lesbian to become a statewide Republican nominee for office.
Just as Republican Zeldin also carries the Conservative line, Democrat Hochul has been cross-endorsed by the far-left Working Families Party. This is the first time since 1954 that the ballot includes just two candidates for governor without minor third-party canddidates to draw away votes from either.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.