Congressman Zeldin Statement on Hochul’s Pathetic First and Final Offer for Just ONE Debate

NEW YORK – Today, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), the Republican Party and Conservative Party Nominee for Governor, released the following statement regarding the one hour Spectrum Gubernatorial Debate proposed for Tuesday evening. Earlier this week, Congressman Zeldin sent a letter to Hochul urging her to stop ignoring the will of New Yorkers, and agree to multiple debates across the state.

“Kathy Hochul is a coward. I have tirelessly called on Hochul to accept a series of debates on broadcast and across various media markets in New York to ensure voters from all corners of this state can hear about the issues that matter most to them.

“Kathy Hochul doesn’t have any answers for her failed leadership, which is why she doesn’t want to take any questions. She’s trying to get away with one debate for one hour at the end of October a month after absentee ballots started going out.

“New Yorkers deserve better. New Yorkers deserve answers, and they deserve the respect of being able to make an informed decision about the future of our state, our communities and our families. The fact that Kathy Hochul doesn’t feel the same should tell New Yorkers everything they need to know when casting their vote at the ballot box on November 8th.

“Unfortunately, many New Yorkers won’t be able to watch this debate live on their TVs Tuesday evening, because Hochul deliberately chose not to have this debate on broadcast TV. Someone needs to remind her that she was never even elected Governor, New Yorkers aren’t her apostles, she is not the mother of the state’s counties, and the people want to be in charge of their own government again. Meanwhile, Hochul thinks she is an Emperor Governor running for a 16th term.

“That’s why I’m not going to let her off the hook, and neither should anybody else. When we take the stage on Tuesday night, the first question should be why Kathy Hochul thinks that the bare minimum, rock-bottom standard of a single cable debate for one hour after so many New Yorkers have already cast their vote is what she thinks the people of New York deserve.

“Then, I hope the moderators address rising crime, cashless bail and other pro-criminal laws, Hochul’s pay to play corruption, DAs like Alvin Bragg who refuse to enforce the law, Hochul’s terrible congestion pricing tax, reversing the state’s ban on the safe extraction of natural gas, our positions on COVID vaccine mandates, and other issues that are contributing to New York leading the entire nation in population loss.”

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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.