Hochul and Zeldin Toss-Up in the New York Gubernatorial Race

The gubernatorial race between incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul and Republican opponent Lee Zeldin has been tagged a “toss-up” by the RealClearPolitics polling average.

According to the rolling average of polls from September 30th to October 12th, Hochul is ahead of the Republican congressman by 5.3%, while 7% of respondents are still unclear about their vote intentions.

The tussle between Governor Hochul and her opponent, Representative Lee Zeldin of Long Island, had been described as a “Lean Democrat,” as Zeldin enthusiastically acknowledged on Twitter on Saturday.

Zeldin, in a tweet with graphics illustrating how the race changed from being a “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up,” stated, “We have just 24 days to go until we FIRE @KathyHochul & save our state. It’s not too late for Hochul to come out of hiding & do multiple debates with me across New York, starting immediately!”

Despite being down 24 points in a poll taken as recently as August, Zeldin has made an impressive comeback.

The announcement of the race’s tie came as Hochul defended the $1 billion in taxpayer funding that some have criticized as a slush fund to buy votes in the upcoming election. The governor blamed the Legislature on Saturday for this stating, “Everything we do has been approved by the Legislature.”

On the campaign trail, Hochul assailed Zeldin’s stance on abortion and made an effort to connect him to the character and ideologies of former President Donald Trump, who hosted a fundraiser for the New York Republican in September.