Hochul leads Zeldin by 10 points in governor’s race, Marist poll says

New York Gov. Hochul led her Republican challenger, Rep. Lee Zeldin, by 10 percentage points in a Marist College poll of the race released Thursday, less than four weeks ahead of Election Day.

The margin, which was smaller than in some recent polling of the race, suggested that while Hochul remains on track to retain her post leading New York, the race is hardly over.

Zeldin, a Trump-tied Long Island lawmaker, has fought an uphill battle in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two to one. He promptly rejected the results of the Marist poll.

“It’s a lot closer than that,” Zeldin said at a news conference in Manhattan. “This is an extremely tight race.”

Other polls have told a different story.

A Siena College survey published on Sept. 28 showed Hochul leading by 17 points. An Emerson College poll released Sept. 9 had Hochul up 15 points.

Hochul, who replaced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo after he resigned in disgrace last year, dominated in the spring Democratic primary for governor, thrashing Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island and Jumaane Williams, the New York City public advocate.

She has appeared to face a tougher challenge from Zeldin, who is running on a public safety-focused platform.

New York has not had a Republican governor since George Pataki left the Executive Mansion at the end of 2006.

The Marist Poll, conducted from Oct. 3 to Oct. 6, found that the top issue for voters was inflation, with 28% citing it as their greatest concern, followed by the health of democracy (24%), crime (18%) and abortion (14%.)

While 78% of registered Republicans said they planned to vote, according to Marist, 62% of Democrats said they expected to cast a ballot.

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a statement that the “race for governor still bears watching,” adding that “enthusiasm for Zeldin among his supporters exceeds Hochul’s, and any shift to crime in the closing weeks is likely to benefit Zeldin.”