Rep. Lee Zeldin wins state Republican nod for governor at party convention

First Congressional District Rep. Lee Zeldin officially became the New York State Republican Party’s designated candidate for governor yesterday at its convention in Garden City.

The Shirley Republican, who has spent much of the past year criss-crossing the state to secure the support of county Republican committees prior to yesterday’s convention — gaining all but two — won the state committee’s designation with 85% of the delegates’ vote.

Zeldin may nevertheless face a primary election in June as three other Republican candidates — former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, former Trump administration advisor Andrew Giuliani and financier Harry Wilson — have all said they remain in the race and will circulate nominating petitions to get on the primary election ballot.

Zeldin has positioned his candidacy as New Yorkers’ last chance to “save our state” from Democratic policies that he says have resulted in rising crime, higher taxes and an exodus of residents.

“New Yorkers are hitting their breaking point and they are desperate,” Zeldin told the cheering crowd yesterday at the Garden City Hotel. “This is a battle for the heart and soul of the state.”

The four-term congressman, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, has often allied himself with the right wing of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives.

Astorino, the Republican candidate for governor in 2014, who declared his candidacy last May, and Wilson, a former hedge fund manager who entered the race just last week, are both more moderate conservatives. Both men say they will be better able than Zeldin to attract the Democratic, moderate Republican and non-aligned voters necessary to produce the first Republican victory in a statewide race in 20 years. Giuliani, son of the former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani, has the best name recognition among the three challengers.

At the party convention, Astorino and Wilson each won 7% of the delegates’ votes, while Giuliani captured just 1%. Zeldin’s 85% support automatically earns him a spot on the June 28 ballot. The other three candidates must get there by securing signatures on party nominating petitions.

Zeldin last week won the state Conservative Party’s designation at its convention.

He has tapped Alison Esposito as his running mate and candidate for lieutenant governor. Esposito is a former deputy inspector and 24-year veteran of the New York City Police Department.

Zeldin, an attorney, is a two-term former state senator. He is a U.S. Army veteran who deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the 82nd Airborne Division and served as a lawyer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is currently a colonel in the Army Reserve.

The N.Y. State Democratic Committee, which has thrown its support behind Gov. Kathy Hochul, blasted Zeldin as a “Trump-aligned extremist” whose record includes: voting against certifying the 2020 election results; voting against creating the commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection; and voting against the American Rescue Plan.

The Democrats condemned Zeldin as “rabidly anti-choice,” citing his vote to defund Planned Parenthood and his call for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. In the current session of Congress, Zeldin has cosponsored the “Life at Conception” Act, which would extend equal protection under the 14th Amendment to every “reborn human person.” He is also a cosponsor of the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which would make it illegal to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the fetus is 20 or more weeks post-fertilization, with qualified exceptions in the case of rape or to save the pregnant woman’s life.

Hochul, the former lieutenant governor, became New York’s first female governor after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign last summer amidst scandal over sexual harassment allegations and his administration’s manipulation of nursing home fatality data during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hochul, a Buffalo native, is a former town councilwoman, former county clerk and former congresswoman. She was tapped by Cuomo as lieutenant governor in his first re-election campaign in 2014.

The governor also faces a potential primary challenge from Rep. Tom Suozzi of Glen Cove, the former Nassau County executive and City of Glen Cove mayor. Suozzi portrays himself as a moderate, “common sense Democrat” who is more electable than the incumbent governor and says he will stop the Democratic Party’s “drift to the left.”