New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is feeling the pressure of next week’s election face-off with Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) for the next full gubernatorial term in the Empire State as the polls continue to tighten. On Sunday, Hochul said that Republicans opposing her are “master manipulators” creating a conspiracy theory about rising crime in her state.
Hochul was provided what amounted to free campaign airtime on MSNBC, where she told host Al Sharpton that statements by Republicans that she is soft on crime are falsehoods. When Sharpton asked her if she was concerned that Zeldin’s campaign ads discussing rising crime in New York could help him “close the gap” with her, Hochul turned to her calls for greater gun control.
Hochul said that Republicans are promoting a “conspiracy going all across America” that is attempting to convince people in Democratic states they are less safe because of crime.
She said: “Well guess what? They’re also not only election deniers, they’re data deniers.”
Hochul said the Republican states are where there are “almost no restrictions on guns” and made the astounding claim that “the safer places are the Democratic states.” She said she trusts voters in New York to believe that she is “actually fighting for them and not trying to arm everybody in the streets.”
New Yorkers fear for their lives as subway crime soars a whopping 41%. This is Kathy Hochul’s New York.
Save New York. Vote for Lee Zeldin. #NYGov pic.twitter.com/3mMY4jfUHb
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) October 31, 2022
The New York City Police Department reported that crime in the city’s subway system is up by 41% as of October 17 during Hochul’s time as governor.
A recent Harvard-Harris poll indicates that 64% of Americans blame “woke politicians” for the nation’s spiking violent crime. Even 52% of Democratic voters agreed with that statement, as did 75% of Republicans and 60% of the vitally important independent voters.
Hochul may have been disingenuously attempting to compare crime statistics for Democrat-controlled cities in red states with all of New York state in making her absurd conspiracy theory claims. However, Democrat-led cities have recorded much larger increases in violent crime and homicides than Republican-led cities between 2020 and 2022.
A Quinnipiac poll published on October 18 shows the race has tightened significantly, with Hochul’s previously double-digit leads down to 50%-46% over Zeldin. Hochul leads in New York City, 59%-37%, while Zeldin leads in the remainder of the state, 52%-44%.
