New York has twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans, but newly minted New York GOP gubernatorial nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., told Newsmax it will be the independents and disenfranchised Democrats who help him "fire" Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul.
"I believe that not just Republicans and conservatives but also independents and disenfranchised Democrats agree that we need to be doing more to make our streets more secure, that we should repeal cashless bail, that rogue liberal DAs like Alvin Bragg should be fired," Zeldin told Wednesday's "Wake Up America." "The governor of the state of New York has the constitutional authority, I would say duty, to do that.
"I treasure freedom," Zeldin continued to host Rob Finnerty. "And I would also say that this governor is in over her head. She has spoken about herself as if New Yorkers want to be led by an emperor governor.
"I'm about restoring power to the people of New York. It's a very different view of public service than she has. And it's about who do you put your trust and faith and this power in. For me, it's about making sure that all New Yorkers feel like they have a voice and representation in our state government, which they do not have today."
Zeldin rebuked "one-party rule" in New York – a deep blue state that has not elected a Republican governor in 16 years – but said independents and moderate Democrats are going to go his way in November even on the issue of abortion.
"Even though I'm pro-life, I have found that people who consider themselves to be a pro-choice agree with me that New York shouldn't be legalizing late-term, partial-birth abortion – that they shouldn't have non-doctors performing abortion," Zeldin told Finnerty. "When I talk about the need for informed consent and parental consent and promoting adoption, people who consider themselves to be pro-choice are agreeing with me with that message.
"So I believe that there's an opportunity here to find some common ground on this issue with people who feel like New York's laws have gone too far. And in some respects, I would say haven't gone far enough where you don't have informed consent and adoption being promoted."
Ultimately, the No. 1 issue will remain the economy, inflation, and gas prices and Zeldin noted – as he did in a Newsmax debate last week – New Yorkers are tired of Democrats' economic policies as proven in the rates of outmigration out of the state.
"I'm ready to see Democrats on their heels and losing in blue states like New York – and with the policies that they're bringing with one party rule, it can't happen fast enough," Zeldin said. "There are too many New Yorkers right now hitting their breaking point in a state that leads the whole country and population loss. I feel like the timing is critical for us to be successful all in this effort to win November."
Zeldin delivered a Long Island victory speech late Tuesday night and told Finnerty he was already all the way across the state in Buffalo, New York, campaigning for November's general election Wednesday morning.
"It was a big win, and we got right to work," Zeldin said. "Some might say, I you know you have July 4 weekend coming up, you can take a few days off and stay off the radar. And you know for us we just are going to work even harder now because we have four fast months that will go by.
"And at the end of the day, we're not doing this to come in second."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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