Hochul holds early double-digit lead over GOPer Zeldin

ALBANY — A pair of polls released early Tuesday show Gov. Hochul with a healthy lead over Lee Zeldin ahead of November’s general election.

Hochul, the Democratic incumbent, leads the Long Island Republican by 14 points among likely voters, according to a survey conducted by Siena College. A second Emerson poll conducted simultaneously has Hochul leading Zeldin by 16 points.

Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, noted that while the governor has a “commanding lead” in the city, 63% to 17%, she trails Zeldin 49% to 43% in the surrounding suburbs, and is statistically even with him upstate.

Democrats vastly outnumber registered GOP voters in New York by a 2-to-1 margin, giving Hochul a comfortable base as Zeldin hopes to become the first Republican to win a statewide office in nearly two decades.

“Fourteen weeks is a long time in politics, and we know most voters don’t really begin to focus on elections [until] after Labor Day,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said.

Hochul, following an event in Queens on Tuesday, told reporters that she’s not taking any vote for granted and said she will spend the next three months taking her message directly to New Yorkers.

“I always run like an underdog up until the very last minute, that’s why I’m successful,” she said. “The polls today are a snapshot of what people are thinking ... and I am going to continue being their governor, speaking about issues that matter to them and letting them know that I’m a fighter.”

Zeldin, meanwhile, has campaigned almost exclusively on crime and public safety and continues to embrace the Trump side of the GOP.

Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, is among the speakers set to join a Zeldin fund-raiser in the Hamptons later this month.

Hochul said she wasn’t troubled that her Republican rival was up in the suburbs, noting that many communities on Long Island lean red already.

“I just need some time to get out there and talk to people about those issues,” she said. “Crime is on people’s minds, they just need to hear what we’ve done on crime and will continue to do on crime.”

Hochul’s 46%-41% favorability rating in the Siena poll is essentially unchanged from June, while 52% of respondents gave the governor a positive approval rating.

The Buffalo native is seeking a full term in office after replacing disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo last summer.

Cuomo was facing impeachment when he resigned last August amid sexual harassment allegations from several staffers and state employees. He has denied any wrongdoing.

According to Siena, Zeldin has a 31%-28% favorability rating, with 41% either having no opinion or never heard of him, up from 21%22%-57% in June.

“Zeldin’s name recognition certainly got a boost from his primary victory and for now both being the focus of Republican energy and the target of Democrats,” Greenberg said.

The Siena survey found Hochul’s fellow Democrats all hold similarly large leads in New York’s statewide races.

Attorney General Letitia James leads her Republican challenger, Michael Henry, 50%-36%, while state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli leads Republican Paul Rodriguez, 51-30%.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) holds a 21-point lead over Republican Joe Pinion, 56%-35%.

The poll also found wide support for a new law tightening eligibility requirements to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The “lowest” support recorded was among conservatives, who still favor the new law 71-27%.

Other parts of the law, approved after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a century-old law limiting who could carry concealed weapons in New York, are also popular with most voters.

“There is also strong support for prohibiting concealed weapons in sensitive locations, 60-34%, and requiring private businesses to have a sign if they allow concealed weapons on their premises, 63-32%,” Greenberg noted.

New Yorkers also overwhelmingly support keeping abortion legal in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Prior to the recent decision undoing 50 years of legal protections for abortions at the federal level, New Yorkers said they wanted the nation’s highest court to uphold Roe, 60-24%.

“Today, 68% say they oppose the decision to overturn Roe, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion,” Greenberg said.

According to the poll, 88% of Democrats, 75% of independents and 50% of Republicans, believe abortion should always remain or mostly legal.