Poll: Republican Lee Zeldin Gains Significant Ground in New York, Within ‘Striking Distance’ of Democrat Kathy Hochul

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) has gained significant ground in New York’s gubernatorial race and is now within “striking distance” of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), with inflation and crime as the leading issues, a new poll revealed on Thursday.

Zeldin has seen a 16-point swing in his favor with likely voters since August, as Hochul is now under 50 percent in the final weeks of the gubernatorial race.

Thursday’s SurveyUSA and News10NBC poll found that Hochul is currently under 50 percent and only leading by six points, with only 47 percent of the support from likely November voters, while 41 percent said they would support Zeldin to replace Hochul, who’s vying for her first elected term as governor. Only four percent voted for someone else, and eight percent were undecided.

In comparison, the SurveyUSA poll in August showed Hochul leafing Zeldin by 24 points. That poll showed Hochul with 55 percent of the support from likely November voters and Zeldin only at 31 percent. At the time, there were also 14 percent undecided.

On both polls, inflation is the number one issue, while crime has become the second most important issue for likely voters on the most recent poll.

While inflation has been rising across the country, crime has been rampant in the Empire State. New York Democrats, in 2019, passed the so-called “No Bail” law that ultimately eliminated bail for a number of criminal suspects accused of committing crimes.

Some of the crimes eliminated in the legislation championed by New York Democrats were second-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, third-degree assault, promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, and aggravated vehicular homicide.

As a result of this, the state has seen crime escalate across New York. In some cases, repeat offenders have been repeatedly arrested and released from police custody.

In fact, Breitbart News recently noted that crime has increased by more than 15 percent compared to the same time last year in New York City.

Zeldin vowed that, if elected, he would overturn the bail law, while Hochul has continued to champion its provisions.

SurveyUSA was conducted from October 14 to 18, with 702 adults likely to vote in New York and a 5.4 percent margin of error.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.