As General Election for Governor Heats Up, Zeldin’s Congressional Votes Contrast

Rep. Lee Zeldin on the campaign trail (photo: @leezeldin)

As Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin runs to become New York Governor, he has made the core planks of his general election campaign crime and cost of living. Meanwhile, he has sought to further energize his base to “fire” Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul over a lack of public safety, high taxes, her role as Lieutenant Governor, and more.

But as the fall general election approaches, Zeldin has continued to take votes in Congress that signify how his conservative politics are out of step with what polling shows the vast majority of New Yorkers support on several prominent issues. Any Republican faces an uphill battle in heavily-Democratic New York, where no GOP nominee has won statewide since 2002, but Zeldin appears to be doing a limited amount to woo the independent and Democratic voters he will need to win.

In recent months, the political conversation has been subsumed in large part by major U.S. Supreme Court decisions overturning Roe v. Wade abortion rights and a New York-specific concealed carry gun law. Meanwhile, Zeldin, who represents New York’s 1st Congressional District on Long Island, has taken key votes in the House of Representatives and articulated stances on issues like abortion rights, contraception access, and gun safety regulations that differ widely with what public opinion polling shows is preferred by New Yorkers — often even majorities of Republicans and independents.

The votes have given Hochul and her campaign regular ammunition to criticize Zeldin as an “extremist” who is out of touch with New Yorkers’ priorities just as the general election heats up. They have combined such attacks with regular comments on Zeldin’s close ties to former President Donald Trump, who remains deeply unpopular in New York and was helping Zeldin raise money over Labor Day weekend. Zeldin supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Experts say that Zeldin’s positions on hot-button issues, which helped him appeal to a conservative electorate in the GOP gubernatorial primary and over several terms in his district, may be significantly hurting his already slender chances in the general election.

The most recent Siena Research Institute polling in early June and late July found that voters widely oppose the Supreme Court’s rulings overturning New York’s concealed gun carry restrictions and the federal right to an abortion, and that they are widely supportive of protecting abortion rights under almost all circumstances.

But Zeldin has said that he supports the Supreme Court’s two recent rulings and that he opposes popular New York laws — some passed recently by Hochul and the Democrat-dominated State Legislature — that limit their impact. Those include new state gun laws expanding background checks and safety course requirements for concealed carry permits, which even majorities of conservatives and gun owners say they support.

Zeldin has voted against or did not vote on several bills meant to enhance gun safety and regulations, like the recently-passed Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which as its name indicates came out of a deal…