Hochul holds commanding lead over Zeldin in New York governor’s race: poll

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) holds a lead of 15 percentage points over Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin, according to an Emerson College-Pix11-The Hill survey released on Friday.

The poll found that 50 percent of somewhat and very likely voters polled said they would support Hochul when asked who they would vote for if the election for governor was held today. Zeldin, meanwhile, received 35 percent.

Nine percent of voters said they were undecided, while 6 percent said they would be voting for someone else. The polling also showed Hochul holding an edge over Zeldin with Black and Hispanic voters.

“There are stark racial divides in the gubernatorial election; Governor Hochul holds the majority of support among Hispanic votes at 59% and Black voters at 72%, whereas white voters are evenly split between Hochul and Zeldin with 44% apiece,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.

Hochul is seeking her first full term in office after she was elevated to the position last year following then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) resignation in response to a report about sexual harassment allegations against him. She said before she was sworn in that she intended to run for a full term. 

Former President Trump has appeared to throw his weight behind Zeldin, attending a fundraiser earlier this week for the Republican candidate, according to The New York Post. Still, Zeldin faces a tough gubernatorial bid. The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the seat “solid Democrat.”

The Emerson College-Pix11-The Hill survey was conducted between Sept. 4-6, with 1,000 somewhat and very likely general election voters surveyed. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.