Congressman Zeldin Closes in on Kathy Hochul in New Poll, Whittling Down Gap to 5.8 Points

59% of New Yorkers Believe State is Heading in Wrong Direction

NEW YORK – A new statewide survey of 800 likely New York voters, taken between September 21 – 25, 2022, found Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), the Republican Party and Conservative Party designee for Governor, closing in on Governor Kathy Hochul, whittling her lead down to only 5.8 points.

From August 7 – 9, McLaughlin and Associates conducted a poll of 600 likely voters, which found Governor Kathy Hochul had an 8 point lead with 48% of likely voters supporting Hochul and 40% supporting Zeldin.

“New Yorkers throughout the state are sick and tired of the attacks on our wallets, safety, freedom and kids’ education, and they know it’s going to take a new generation of leadership to Save Our State,” said Congressman Zeldin. “They’re fed up with the direction of New York and Kathy Hochul’s eagerness to lead New York right off a cliff. We have the issues on our side, we have the grassroots support on our side, and on November 8th voters are going to send a message loud and clear that we have New Yorkers on our side.”

McLaughlin & Associates, which has always served as Congressman Zeldin’s pollster with precise, consistent accuracy for every one of his campaigns, completed the statewide survey of 800 likely voters in New York State.

McLaughlin & Associates has decades of experience polling in New York and, in 2021, did the polling for the upset victories of Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and the Conservative Party victories to defeat statewide Propositions 1, 3 and 4.

Topline Survey Results:

  • On the head-to-head ballot:
    • Hochul: 50.7%
    • Zeldin: 44.9%
    • Undecided: 4.4%
  • Six in ten voters, 59%, say that New York is headed on the wrong track and only 32% say that it’s headed in the right direction.
  • Governor Hochul’s job approval:
    • Approval: 46%
    • Disapproval: 51%

Methodology: This New York Statewide survey was conducted among 800 likely general election voters between September 21 – 25, 2022.

A multi-modal approach was employed via live telephone calls and self-administered text messages. The live telephone interviews were conducted by professional interviewers with respondents contacted by both landline phone and cell phone. The text message respondents were sent a personalized invitation to complete the survey on a secure online platform. The sample includes a mix of 33% landline, 33% live-caller cellphones interviews, and 34% text to cell interviews.

Interview selection was at random within predetermined election units. These units were structured to statistically correlate with actual statewide general election voter turnout. The accuracy of the overall sample of 800 likely General Election voters is within +/- 3.4% at a 95% confidence interval.

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About Lee Zeldin

Lee Zeldin was born and raised on Long Island. He grew up in Suffolk County and graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, where his identical twin daughters attend school today. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and then his law degree from Albany Law School, becoming New York’s youngest attorney at the time at the age of 23.

Lee spent four years on Active Duty with the U.S. Army after completing ROTC and served in different capacities, including as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor, and Military Magistrate. In the summer of 2006, while assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, Lee deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2007, Lee returned to Suffolk County with his family. It was at this time that Lee transitioned from Active Duty to the Army Reserve, where he currently serves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In 2008, Lee established a successful law practice in Smithtown, NY. Elected to the New York State Senate two years later, in 2010, Lee’s been working hard every day since to keep the promises he made to the hard-working families he represents.

In the State Senate, Lee:

  • Led the successful effort to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, a job killing tax that was hurting small businesses. 

  • Cosponsored the nation’s strongest property tax cap, which became law.

  • Reduced middle-income tax rates in New York to the lowest level in 60 years.

  • Secured the repeal of the Saltwater Fishing License Fee.

  • Created the PFC Joseph Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program to help our returning veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). 

  • Authored the law to protect our fallen veterans and their families from protests at military burials. 

Lee was then elected to the United States Congress in 2014, representing New York’s First Congressional District, and has now won seven consecutive races since 2010 in purple NYC suburban districts, unseating two Democrat incumbents along the way. In Congress, Lee quickly became a leading voice in America on top local, domestic and foreign policy issues: 

  • Combating and defeating MS-13 on Long Island, leading the charge in New York and nationally against cashless bail, opposing all efforts to defund, dismantle or abolish police, and providing law enforcement the resources they need to fight gang violence and other crimes in our communities, including bulletproof vests.

  • Securing the repeal of many harmful, job killing regulations, with the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, and many other initiatives, to improve our business climate and grow our economy. 

  • Leading the charge to end all COVID mandates. 

  • Saving Plum Island, by securing the repeal of a 2008 federal law requiring the island to be sold off to the highest bidder. 

  • Delivering a $1.5 billion boost in border security resources, helping to choke off the flow of illegal migration across our borders. 

  • Introducing and passing into law his Adult Day Health Care legislation for disabled veterans and opening a new health care clinic for East End veterans.

  • Delivering the Electron Ion Collider “discovery machine” to Brookhaven National Lab that will enable advancements in national security, medical and cancer research, astrophysics, and more and create an extensive number of jobs. 

  • Advancing his law enforcement bill of rights, which would help ensure that our great law enforcement officers and the people they serve are protected.

  • Championing the expansion of the Dwyer Program nationally, to help all of our nation’s veterans access the resources they need. 

  • Securing much needed support of treatment, enforcement, and prevention for those affected by the heroin and opioid abuse crisis.

  • Leading the effort against the fatally flawed Iran Nuclear Deal.

  • Co-authoring a bipartisan resolution (H.Res. 246) that passed the House opposing the anti-Israel and antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

  • Working with the Army Corps of Engineers to protect our coastlines, advancing the ambitious Fire Island to Montauk Point project, in addition to several other vital projects on the north and south shores of Long Island.

  • Co-Chairing the Long Island Sound Caucus and advancing top priorities for the Long Island Sound Program, National Estuary Program and SeaGrant.

  • Co-chairing, as one of only two Jewish Republicans in Congress, the House Republican Israel Caucus, and serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Financial Services Committee, as well as four House Subcommittees.

  • Successfully resolving over 17,000 constituent cases in favor of his constituents.

Lee and his wife, Diana, reside in Shirley with their twin fifteen-year old daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.