Monday, October 31, 2022
Lee Zeldin, grandson of an Orthodox rabbi, gains traction in New York’s Hasidic neighborhoods
New Yorkers will make history on Election Day, either electing the state's first woman or first Jewish Republican governor. The Democratic incumbent, Kathy Hochul, and GOP challenger, Lee Zeldin, are both counting on strong voter turnout. In a state with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, each hopes their outreach to New York's 1.9 million Jews will give them an edge in a race that's become far more competitive than expected according to recent polls.
"Everything is working the right way," Zeldin, 42, said in a recent interview. He's come from behind in dramatic fashion before. When he first ran for Congress in 2014, Zeldin in the final days of the campaign pulled ahead of his opponent, six-term Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop, after trailing him by 10 points. He ended up winning by 10 points, becoming the sole Jewish Republican member of Congress at the time.
"We are feeling very good," he said about his current race.
Zeldin's longshot bid has been bolstered in recent weeks by surging worry about the economy and crime — Republicans tend to fare better with voters on those issues. But he has at the same time seen his star rise with the Orthodox, an influential voting bloc that helped reelect former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014 and overwhelmingly supported Hochul in the Democratic primaries earlier this year.
The Orthodox traditionally vote for Republican candidates in national elections, but their leaders have strategically backed Democratic incumbents locally in places where they are much more likely to win. Yet the continuing rise in antisemitic violence, which targets Orthodox Jews — who are most visibly Jewish — in particular, and the debate over the state's new measure to strengthen oversight of secular studies at yeshivas, has thrown the group's support for Hochul in doubt.
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