No-cash bail murder of Buffalo mom could cost Hochul election: ex-Clinton pollster
The case of the young Buffalo mother who police say was killed at the hands of her abusive husband freed from jail without bail could cost Gov. Kathy Hochul the election, a former Clinton pollster said.
Mark Penn told Fox News Wednesday that the brutal Oct. 4 murder of Keaira Bennefield shot by her estranged husband in front of her three children could sway voters away from the incumbent candidate.
“Crime is the number one issue in New York State,” Penn said.
“This horrific murder — in which someone beats her first and then is let out on the street — this could be the incident close enough to the election, clear enough in its relation to the bail laws and clear enough, by the way, in Hochul’s opposition to giving judges what about 70% of New Yorkers want: the discretion to take people who are a threat to the community off the streets.
“Wow, this really could be it. It had already been mounting week after week as the polls tighten here to single digits.”
Adam Bennefield was released from jail less than 24 hours before Keaira’s murder. He had been arrested for savagely beating her in an on-camera attack that Keaira later posted to Facebook, but was only slapped with a string of misdemeanor charges.
The low-level charges prevented the judge from setting bail under New York’s lax no-cash bail laws, allowing Adam to freely carry out the despicable crime.
Keaira’s mother, Tammy Hudson, told The Post Tuesday that she blames Hochul for her daughter’s death because of her support of bail reform legislation and wishes the governor could be charged with the murder.
“She failed me. She let me down and my daughter down, and she needs to make a change with the bail reform,” Hudson said.
Gubernatorial opponent Lee Zeldin also blames Hochul for the slaying, claiming there is “blood on her hands.”
“Keaira’s three kids will now be growing up without a mother, because of Kathy Hochul’s soft on crime, feckless leadership. She refuses to support judges having discretion to weigh dangerousness,” he said.
Hochul has repeatedly defended bail reform laws but admitted the legislation could use some tweaking. She won’t consider significantly altering them until January, however, so that legislators will “be able to assess the real impact of our changes.”
That statement, Penn said, was a bad move.
“I don’t think that was a very strong answer or wise one,” he told Fox.
Penn claimed the 2022 election is mirroring the 1994 election in which rising crime was the main concern for voters.
“We’re seeing here that the policies that led to the crime in the 90s are being repeated. Now, I think they’re even more extreme,” the pollster said. “And the truth of the matter is New Yorkers don’t support these policies.”
Zeldin is running a “smart campaign,” Penn said. He has repeatedly pitted himself against Hochul as the candidate who takes rising crime seriously. He has promised to eliminate bail reform laws on his first day as governor and to fire progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Hochul doubled down on her claims Tuesday that murder and shooting rates have decreased since she took office in August 2021. “Master manipulators” and “data deniers” are purposefully claiming crime rates are up to derail her bid for reflection, she said.
