Zel leapfrogs gov on endorse
Battle for support from police orgs
Six weeks before Election Day, Gov. Hochul touted an endorsement from a prominent police union Tuesday — only to be oneupped 36 minutes later by her Republican challenger, Rep. Lee Zeldin, who got backing from an even bigger group.
“He opposed efforts to defund the police, supports keeping qualified immunity for our police officers, and as part of his plan to secure our streets, he proposes a law-enforcement bill of rights,” Police Conference of New York President Richie Wells said about Long Island’s Zeldin.
“Lee opposes the disastrous cashless bail law, Less is More, and more pro-criminal policies that put criminals back on our streets and law enforcement in danger,” he added in reference to laws enacted on Hochul’s watch amid rising crime.
The conference includes about 200 law-enforcement agencies with 50,000 members whose leaders voted by an 4-to-1 ratio to back Zeldin over Hochul, although member organizations can opt to endorse whoever they want in the increasingly hot gubernatorial race, according to Wells.
State PBA’s support
One of those groups, the PBA of New York State, announced Tuesday it was endorsing Hochul for a full term in office.
That comes following a 2% pay bump approved by the governor as part of a new contract that expires on the eve of the April 1 state budget deadline next year.
“The governor has helped address staffing shortages by authorizing new police officer academies, addressed pay inequity by increasing salaries for downstate officers to offset higher costs of living, and promoted the advancement of women in law enforcement with her pledge to increase the number of women in law enforcement to 30%,” PBA President James McCartney said.
A spokeswoman for the Hochul campaign insisted the “endorsement process” did not include any contract talk. Hochul has denied other allegations of leveraging her job for political benefit, while accumulating a big advantage over Zeldin when it comes to union endorsements, polling and fundraising in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2 to 1.
“We have made progress toward making our streets safer and our criminal-justice system fairer,” Hochul said.
But Zeldin says he’s betting rank-and-file cops across the state will break with union leadership who support Hochul, which could help him pull off an upset Nov. 8.
“New Yorkers are sick and tired of the attacks on their safety, and police officers from across the state know that as governor, I’ll ensure they have the resources they need to safely and effectively do their jobs,” Zeldin said.
In an interview published Saturday, Zeldin told The Post he would consider a state of “emergency” on crime in order to nullify the state’s disastrous bail-reform laws.
But he said he would prefer that Albany lawmakers repeal the statutes.