Lee Zeldin wins Republican nomination for NY governor
Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin clinched the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday, handily winning the party primary against former White House staffer Andrew Giuliani, businessman Harry Wilson and ex-Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
“Are we ready to fire Kathy Hochul?” he asked a crowd of supporters as he gave a victory speech just before 11 p.m.
“For us, we believe that public service is about serving the public,” he added. “Kathy Hochul has been acting as if the public has been there to serve her.”
Zeldin held a roughly 43% to 23% lead over Giuliani with more than 60% of the votes counted. Astorino was in third at 19% and Wilson at 15%.
The four-term House member from eastern Long Island entered the race in April 2021, before any of his rivals, helping him obtain big fundraising and endorsement advantages.
Party leaders gave Zeldin, endorsed by the Post Editorial Board, their backing at the GOP state convention held on Long Island earlier this year.
He led most polls throughout the race, including a June 13 survey that showed Zeldin with 34%, compared to 16% for Astorino, 15% for Wilson and 13% for Giuliani.
Zeldin will run in the November election alongside former NYPD Deputy Inspector Alison Esposito — who ran unopposed for her party’s nomination for lieutenant governor.
Zeldin promised ahead of the primary that he would move to remove controversial Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg on “Day One” if elected governor this November.
“[There’s] going to be an expedited process where we already have enough facts in front of us that he is refusing to enforce the law and I believe he should be removed and I believe that it is my constitutional duty to get it done,” Zeldin said at GOP headquarters in Albany Monday.
He repeated the vow in his victory speech.
The four-way race grew heated at times with Wilson in a mistakenly sent text calling Zeldin a “scumbag” and vandals scrawling swastikas on the Jewish Zeldin’s lawn sign in Huntington.
Zeldin meanwhile dismissed Andrew Giuliani in their final debate as a former “Chick-fil-A runner at the White House outranked by the Easter Egg Bunny.”
Despite the rancor, Zeldin thanked Giuliani and said he “has a bright future in New York politics.” He also thanked Astorino and Wilson.
In his speech, Zeldin also declared that leftist policies have led many Empire State residents to reach a “breaking point” at which they have decided to live elsewhere.
“Right now we’re seeing with this population loss, one-party rule, super majorities in the Assembly and Senate, outsize power of people who self-described as socialists,” he told the crowd in Long Island.
“Why are New Yorkers hitting this breaking point? They don’t feel safe on our streets, and on subways, in their homes and in their places of employment.
“They feel like life in New York is unaffordable, that their money will go further somewhere else,” the federal lawmaker added.
“This isn’t just a red wave. This is a common-sense wave,” he told the crowd during his rousing victory speech. “It’s a common-sense wave that reaches out … to all counties in all regions.
“We’re reaching out for all of you to work with us to save New York,” the lawmaker added. “This is a rescue mission to save our state, and losing is not an option.”
