- Trump ally Zeldin appears with DeSantis at New York law enforcement event The Hill
- DeSantis team fires back at Eric Adams after he offers to teach Florida governor about NYC ‘values’ Fox News
- Protesters greet Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on visit to Chicago area: ‘Illinois is a place where we say gay. We’re proud of it.’ Chicago Sun-Times
- Ron DeSantis sure sounds like a presidential candidate during Staten Island speech (opinion) SILive.com
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Chicago suburb in support of police union WGN TV Chicago
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Tag Archives: Zeldin
Support from black voters lifted Hochul over Zeldin for gov
Democrat Kathy Hochul has black voters to thank for saving her job as governor against hard-charging Republican challenger Lee Zeldin, an election results analysis shows.
While Zeldin’s law and order campaign made inroads with once blue-leaning Asian, Jewish and Latino voters, black voters were Hochul’s firewall in southeast Queens, central Brooklyn, Harlem and parts of the Bronx, the analysis found.
Hochul garnered a staggering 90% or more votes in many of the city’s predominantly Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean districts — the same working and middle class voters who propelled Mayor Eric Adams last year.
“Oh, absolutely. Oh, definitely the black community elected Kathy Hochul governor,” said state Assemblywoman Inez Dickens. In Dickens’ 70th Assembly District, residents delivered 27,968 votes for Hochul, and just 2,287 for Zeldin.
According to Dickens, Zeldin is too closely associated with former President Donald Trump for black voters — and isn’t seen as a moderate in the mold of former three-term GOP Gov. George Pataki. Trump endorsed Zeldin just weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
“If Zeldin was a Pataki Republican, he would have done better,” the Harlem political veteran said. “He was considered a Trumper by black voters. That was a very, very big part of it.”
Here’s a revealing breakdown of results in predominantly black districts:
- In Queens Assembly District 29, covering Laurelton, Rosedale, St. Albans, and Springfield Gardens, Hochul racked up 22,280 votes to 2,538 for Zeldin.
- In AD 32 (South Jamaica, Richmond Hill), Hochul got 18,312 votes to 2,176 for Zeldin.
- In AD 33 (Cambria Heights, Hollis, Queens Village, Bellerose) Hochul got 21,773 votes compared with Zeldin’s 3,691.
- In Brooklyn’s AD 56 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, voters showered Hochul with 25,289 votes to 1,590 for Zeldin.
- In AD 55 covering Ocean Hill/Brownsville, Hochul racked up 15,774 votes compared with 1,044 for Zeldin.
- In AD 57 in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and Crown Heights, residents delivered 34,642 votes for Hochul and 2,940 for Zeldin.
- In AD 60 in East NY/Starrett City, Hochul got 17,588 votes compared with 1,774 for Zeldin.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said like other New Yorkers, black voters are concerned about crime — but focusing on locking people up is perceived as “fear mongering” and “dog whistling” without discussions about opportunities and youth programs to discourage law-breaking.
“You can have justice and safety at the same time,” Richards said. “We can’t police and incarcerate out of crime. There’s a question of access to good jobs, housing and education.”
“Zeldin’s campaign reminded black voters of Trump,” he added.
Both Richards and Dickens pointed out Hochul is well-known in their communities, having visited regularly for years when she was lieutenant governor under ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned last year amid sexual harassment and misconduct accusations.
“Gov. Hochul doesn’t need a GPS to know where south Queens is. She’s been a consistent presence and attentive,” Richards said.
In Pataki’s view, it’s a cruel irony the party of emancipation that freed black people from slavery is now rejected by black voters, He saud winning a statewide race will remain out of reach unless Republicans make at least some inroads with black voters.
“We have to do far better outreach,” Pataki said. “We have to make the case on the streets in the African-American (communities) every day — not just during an election — that our policies are better for them,” Pataki said.
Blacks are disproportionately victims of crime so the GOP push to toughen the cashless bail law should resonate as well as the party’s support for charter schools as an alternative to failing public schools, Pataki said.
Zeldin, just before and after the election, told The Post he’s proud of making inroads into minority communities, but said becoming more competitive with black voters in a “longer term issue” the GOP has to address.
“We were witnessing some shifting trends amongst some of the minority communities, so it’s possible that two years or four years down the road, any of these groups might be leaning more to the right, especially if one-party rule up in Albany continues to alienate these voters,” Zeldin said. “If the issues that we’re talking about during this campaign only become even more prevalent and more desperately in need of action, that just further pushes more votes away from the Democrats.”
“So I would seek to build upon the number that we got, just over 30,” he said. “But part of that has to do with direct outreach and relationship building. I would always encourage an earlier start to be able to build those relationships. And one of the other big factors is that there are certainly some trends that we witnessed, where some groups may just naturally be voting more Republican in the future if they continue to get pushed in that direction by certain democratic policies.”
Hochul carried New York City with 70% of the vote to 30% for Zeldin, a margin he couldn’t overcome despite winning nearly all other counties in the state, including his home turf of Long Island.
Zeldin did carry some city Assembly districts with large Orthodox Jewish and Asian populations, and fared better in heavily Hispanic districts.
The Long Island congressman won conservative Staten Island 2-1, and carried six Assembly districts in southern Brooklyn and four in Queens — including Assemblyman Ron Kim’s 40th AD in the heart of heavily Asian-populated Flushing.
Why NYC Democrats are backing Republican Lee Zeldin for governor
A Democratic candidate for New York state governor cannot be elected without the backing of New York City’s huge number of Democratic voters. But looking around Gotham, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single political sign supporting Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Democratic candidate in next week’s election.
Meanwhile, signs for Republican candidate Lee Zeldin are popping up across the city — even in the Democratic stronghold of Queens.
In fact, when a reporter from The Post knocked on the front doors of the homes where “Zeldin for Governor” signs are displayed, many of the people inside said they consider themselves Democrats — but nonetheless plan to vote Republican on Nov. 8.
“I feel the Democratic Party has left me, I didn’t leave the party,” said Phil Wong, 56, a longtime former Democrat who has planted a Zeldin sign outside the Elmhurst home he shares with his wife, kids and elderly mother. “They left me with all these extreme progressive policies that hurt New York City and hurt Asians.”
Wong, an immigrant from Hong Kong, is the president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York and the former chair of the Community Education Council 24 in Elmhurst. He has actively campaigned to preserve NYC’s gifted-and-talented programs and the SHSAT, the admissions test used by the city’s most selective high schools. He said the changing policies at city public schools is what’s spurring him to vote for Zeldin, a Republican congressman from Long Island.
“Now it doesn’t matter how well you do in school because it’s no longer based on merit, it’s based on a lottery,” said Wong.
“So suddenly, kids don’t even want to work hard anymore, because the chance of going into any school with a 95 average will be the same as the kid that’s about to fail. That is not right, that just tells kids that they can just goof off and hang out or hang around and still get into the good schools.”
Wong said he also believes that the spike in serious crime — which, according to NYPD statistics, has increased nearly 36% over last year from January to September — is why he’s seeing more of his neighbors and friends in Queens declaring their support for Zeldin.
“I see more and more moderate Democrats coming out every day and saying they are going to vote for Zeldin,” Wong told The Post. “We had a great city under Giuliani and Bloomberg, but when De Blasio came on, it went downhill. I used to feel safe, my mom felt safe and my kids felt safe. I felt that they could go out, play in the park, go to school on their own and come back. And now I don’t feel that anymore.”
Not far from Wong’s home in Elmhurst lives John Schaffer, a computer engineer, and his wife, Luz, who works in catering. Luz is Hispanic and a longtime Democrat; her husband is a white, registered Democrat who simultaneously considers himself conservative. Despite casting their votes for Democrats in the past, the couple is displaying a Zeldin sign in their Halloween-themed front yard.
“Kathy Hochul, just in the debate alone, you could see that crime was not important to her,” said John, who did not give his age. “What she actually said was, why is it important?”
John said he drives his wife to and from work if she has to go very early or return home late because they both fear rampant subway crime.
“It’s just not safe,” he said. “We’ve seen the videos. For that reason alone I’m voting for Zeldin. But there’s so much more. The Democratic Party has become so corrupt in every way.”
“You can see how the city is going down,” added Luz, who also didn’t give her age. “You see so many homeless, so many dangerous people. Everyone is scared and we wish the city would go back to the way it was before.”
In the nearby Queens neighborhood of Woodside, one-time Democrat Lucy Hensley, 51, who was born in Venezuela, is displaying a Zeldin sign outside the modest, two-story home she shares with her husband, Luis Vielma.
“We came here with nothing,” Hensley said. “We had zero and we now have a nice life without ever having had to depend on the government. But what we’ve been seeing in the US thanks to Democratic policies is a disaster. Being Venezuelan, we understand more than maybe many others what is happening. We saw this happen in Venezuela. We know how they start. We really hope Zeldin wins.”
Most of the Zeldin signs spotted by The Post in Queens can be found in Richmond Hill, facilitated in part by retired veteran prosecutor James Quinn, who lives on 112th Street. Quinn, a Republican, said he put out a lot of Zeldin signs in his front yard and a number of his Democratic neighbors came by to pick up a few for their own lawns.
“I get the sense that there’s a lot more people who have always voted Democrat but will vote Republican this year,” Quinn said. “I hear them say that they feel there is really no hope that Democratic politicians are going to reverse any of these crazy policies or do anything to help solve all the problems we’re seeing in the city.”
One of Quinn’s neighbors is a longtime city cop who has always voted Democrat. He did not want to be identified publicly but he said he took a Zeldin sign from Quinn to hang outside his home and he plans to vote Republican from now on.
“All the violence that we’re seeing and all the inflation and corruption is too much for me and my family,” he told The Post. “We no longer identify with the Democrats. They are out of touch with the middle class and the people in the community. They all have agendas, thinking that it’s all about just being like, liberal. They think everybody’s liberal like that but we aren’t. Our values align much more now with what conservatives want.”
DeSantis bashes New York Dems at Lee Zeldin rally on Long Island
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted New York Democrats for “coddling” criminals at a campaign event on Long Island Saturday – and blamed their leadership for sending residents packing for the Sunshine State.
DeSantis, appearing alongside New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, even took a swipe at former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for the migration.
“When de Blasio got elected mayor of New York, you know how much real estate in South Florida spiked when he got elected Mayor of New York City?” DeSantis quipped.
DeSantis — believed to be a favorite to run on the Republican ticket in the 2024 presidential election — took the stage in front of thousands at Hauppauge in Suffolk County as Zeldin continues to close the gap against incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The Sunshine State’s leader bashed New York policies, including the controversial bail reform laws and said he couldn’t wait to see Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg removed from office, which Zeldin has pledged to do if elected.
“The crime problem has been totally self-inflicted — you cut police budgets, you do things like eliminate cash bail and you have rogue prosecutors who won’t even enforce laws that they agree with — of course you’re going to have streets that are less safe,” DeSantis said. “Of course you are going to have people that aren’t able to do the basics without fearing for their safety.”
“Stop turning [criminals] loose on the street. They’ll commit a crime and they put them right back out,” he went on. “Stop releasing people early from prison. If you do the crime, you must do the time.”
“We need to focus more on supporting the rights of the victims of crime and not be so concerned with the rights of the criminal. Lee Zeldin will not coddle these people. He will hold them accountable and you will be safer as a result.”
DeSantis said people “are sick and tired of crime that you see, particularly in New York City.” He boasted that Florida was a law-and-order state and that New York would become one if Zeldin were to be elected.
A record-breaking number of New Yorkers have swapped their New York driver’s licenses for Florida licenses as droves have fled the Empire State for the Sunshine State, The Post reported last month.
DeSantis said former New Yorkers who moved to Florida were upset over the “George Floyd riots in 2020.” He said he called the National Guard in Florida because “we were not going to let our cities burn down, we were not going to let our cities be destroyed.”
He also went after Hochul’s comments in August, where she called on New York Republicans to “Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong,” adding, “You are not New Yorkers.”
“You have a situation here where not only is your state making terrible decisions in driving people away, you have a governor who is telling Republicans in New York to leave the state. How pathetic is that?” DeSantis said.
Zeldin, who spoke before DeSantis, said New Yorkers were leaving because the state has become too expensive, unsafe and restrictive.
“We want to be able to say that we live in the greatest state in the greatest country of the world, but then we call up our friends and family in other places like Florida,” Zeldin said.
“And then they point out to us ‘doesn’t New York lead the country in out migration?’ So how can you say that you live in the greatest state in the greatest country of the world?”
With just 10 days to go until Election Day, Zeldin has surged within single digits of Hochul in polls over the last several weeks.
Both candidates have around $6 million left in their coffers for the final 10-day push to the finish line.
Those in attendance at Saturday night’s rally told The Post that the single biggest issue for them going into this election is crime.
“Crime is the number one problem,” said Forest Hills resident David Rem, a self-identified blue collar worker and father of a 17-year-old daughter.
“I worry that I’m not going to see her in the evening,” Rem told The Post. “She’s forced to take the train. I’m not a millionaire. I don’t have police protection and neither does she.”
“There’s been stabbings and shootings. Kathy Hochul said it’s just about guns. It’s not just about guns. People are getting hit in the head with hammers,” he said of the violence in New York.
Phil Eareckson, a 54-year-old Babylon resident and registered Republican, said he’s “looking for a change in New York. I want a change in crime and bail reform.”
“Crime! Crime! Crime!” added his wife Karla, 50, a retired nurse.
Judy Tedesco, 55, of Yaphank, also said she wanted Republicans to seize control of the state to “stop crime,” calling Gov. Hochul “out of touch” on this issue.
“I think she’s out of touch with everybody. When she said I don’t know why crime is that big of a deal to you, obviously she’s not around the masses. She’s bewildered and doesn’t understand why crime is an issue.”
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul leads Rep. Lee Zeldin by 14 points ahead of Nov. 8 election: Poll
A new Siena College poll shows Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul with a 14-point lead over Republican nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
When asked who they’d “vote for today” with Hochul and Zeldin as the candidates for their respective parties, 53% of respondents said they’d vote for the governor while 39% said they would vote for Zeldin.
Another 7% said they “don’t know” or had no opinion and 2% said they would not vote for governor at all.
“Fourteen weeks is a long time in politics, and we know most voters don’t really begin to focus on elections till after Labor Day. Still, Hochul has an early – but certainly not insurmountable – lead,” pollster Steven Greenberg said.
“Hochul dominates in New York City, leading by nearly 50 points, while Zeldin has slim 3-point leads both upstate and in the downstate suburbs,” Greenberg said.
Political experts say a pathway to victory for Zeldin requires winning at least 30% of the vote in Democrat-dominated New York City while winning big in the surrounding suburbs and upstate.
The Siena poll showed the Long Island Republican Zeldin ahead of Hochul with suburbanites 46% to 43% and with a 48% to 45% advantage among upstate voters over the Buffalonian governor.
Hochul has the support of 70% of voters in the hard-left-leaning Big Apple compared to 21% for Zeldin.
The incumbent governor is up in every demographic category based on race, age and income in the survey of 806 likely voters conducted July 24 to July 28.
Black voters favor Hochul by a 78% to 8% margin, but the poll shows her with just six-point and eight-point leads among white and Latino voters.
The candidates are running close among voters 35 to 54 year olds, with Hochul leading 46% to 43%. She is up by 15 points among older voters and 35 points among voters younger than 34 years old.
Women are favoring Hochul by a whopping 26 points while Hochul and Zeldin have 46% support each among men.
A total of 31% of respondents have a favorable view of Zeldin with 28% saying they have an unfavorable view while Hochul received favorable marks from 46% of voters alongside 41% who disapproved.
While 36% of New Yorkers believe the Empire State is heading in the right direction, just 19% say the same about the country – an all-time high that could help Republicans like Zeldin campaign on such issues as historically high inflation.
New Yorkers are split on Democratic President Joe Biden, who is rated as favorable and unfavorable by 46% of respondents to the Siena poll.
The results of the poll are similar to a separate survey released Tuesday morning by Emerson College Polling, which showed Hochul with a 16-point edge over Zeldin, with similar margins separating the candidates in New York City and other regions of the state.
While Zeldin appears to be falling short of his electoral targets, he appears better positioned at this point in the race compared to other recent GOP nominees.
A 2018 Siena poll showed Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican, was 22 points behind Democratic incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo weeks after they won their respective party primaries, held in September that year.
“While Democrats have taken the last four gubernatorial elections, Zeldin’s current 14-point deficit matches the closest Republicans have come in those races, when Andrew Cuomo defeated Rob Astorino 54-40% in 2014. In August 2014, Cuomo led Astorino by 32 points, 58-26%,” Greenberg said in the press release.
But Zeldin has ground to make up if he wants to replicate the success of George Pataki, the last Republican to serve as governor.
Republican challenger George Pataki led Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo by 3 points statewide – with an 11-point edge in New York City – in an October 1994 poll conducted by The New York Times/WCBS-TV News ahead of Pataki’s upset victory over the three-term incumbent that November.
Other GOP candidates on the statewide ticket in November 2022 appear to face even longer odds than Zeldin of becoming the first Republican to win a statewide election since Pataki won his third term in office in 2002.
US Sen. Chuck Schumer and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have 21-point leads in their respective races against Republican nominee Joe Pinion, a former Newsmax host, and banker Paul Rodriguez, according to the Siena poll.
State Attorney General Letitia James is 14 points ahead of commercial litigator Michael Henry in her own reelection bid.
Hochul has raised more than $34 million in her bid to become the first woman to get elected governor after taking over last August for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid multiple scandals.
Campaign finances disclosures filed in mid-July show her with $11.7 million on hand to spend for the campaign ahead compared to $1.6 million for Zeldin.
In recent months, she has campaigned heavily on abortion rights and gun control following controversial decisions by the US Supreme Court that might be weighing down Republicans’ chances in the Empire State this November.
“Although a small majority of Republicans support the Dobbs decision, it is opposed by 89% of Democrats, 60% of independents, and at least of 62% of voters from every region, age group, gender, and race,” Greenberg said in reference to the recent SCOTUS decision on abortion.
“Support for the new law expanding eligibility requirements to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon – background checks with character references and firearms safety training courses – is through the roof with all demographic groups,” he added about new state laws passed following another ruling striking down longtime New York rules on carrying concealed weapons.
Suspected attacker of GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin arrested on federal assault charge
David Jakubonis, 43, was arrested Saturday and charged with assaulting a member of Congress with a dangerous weapon, according to Barbara Burns, a Department of Justice spokesperson. Jakubonis made his first court appearance before US Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson in Rochester on Saturday, according to court documents, and the weapon involved was described in court records as a self-defense keychain.
Jakubonis was already facing state charges over the alleged attack Thursday. He had been charged with attempted assault in the second degree after being accused of confronting Zeldin, a Republican, while he was giving a speech in Fairpoint, New York. Jakubonis “attempted to stab” Zeldin, a statement from the campaign said, and the GOP lawmaker “grabbed the attacker’s wrist to stop him until several others assisted in taking the attacker down to the ground.” Zeldin was not injured.
Steve Slawinski, assistant federal defender for the Western District of New York who is representing Jakubonis, said in a statement Jakubonis is next scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing Wednesday.
“I expect to request the judge to release him from custody at that time,” Slawinski said.
Zeldin, who has made New York’s rising crime rate a central focus of his campaign’s attacks on incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, said in a statement Saturday he was “thankful that federal authorities came in to do what New York State’s broken pro-criminal justice system could not – uphold the rule of law.”
According to the criminal complaint filed Saturday, Jakubonis, an Army veteran, allegedly told authorities he had consumed whiskey on the day of the campaign event and “must have checked out” as he walked on the stage and asked if Zeldin was disrespecting veterans. Jakubonis told authorities he did not know who Zeldin was at the time.
Following his initial arrest Thursday, Jakubonis was held for six hours before his arraignment, where he was released on his own recognizance, according to Monroe County sheriff’s deputy Brendan Hurley. He had travel restrictions limiting him to Monroe County and an order of protection was also issued for him to stay away from Zeldin, according to court paperwork.
Due to the class of felony allegedly committed, under New York law, the presiding judge couldn’t have set bond even if they wanted to, Hurley previously told CNN. In 2019, New York’s bail reform law eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges, and Class E is the least serious class of felony.
Republicans expressed outrage over Jakubonis’ quick release.
Zeldin on Friday had condemned the state’s bail system following Jakubonis’ initial release. He said changes to the state’s cashless bail system are necessary and judges should have discretion when considering who should remain in police custody.
“My first and foremost concern about cashless bail and the need to overhaul it is dangerousness,” he said. “The judges should have discretion to weigh dangerousness. It’s about the victim,” Zeldin, who was unharmed in the attack, said at a rally in Onondaga County, New York. “But even if you were having a conversation with the strongest advocate of cashless bail, I would challenge them on this point: I would argue that they’re doing a disservice to the person who attacked us on stage last night because they rush — they have to, by law — they have to rush to get him released.”
Zeldin said Friday he believes cashless bail should be repealed and there “should also be a certain minimum set where certain cases, certain suspects, defendants, they have to remain behind bars.”
Hochul had tweeted Thursday evening she was “relieved to hear” Zeldin was not injured in the incident.
“My team has informed me about the incident at Lee Zeldin’s campaign event tonight. Relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured and that the suspect is in custody. I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest terms possible — it has no place in New York,” Hochul wrote.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Suspected Lee Zeldin attacker David Jakubonis arrested on federal assault charge
The Army veteran who attacked gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin during a campaign stop near Rochester was arrested Saturday on a federal assault charge, according to reports.
David Jakubonis, 43, is set to make a court appearance in front of US Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson later Saturday, Fox News and ABC7 reported, citing an announcement by the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of New York.
FBI, New York State police and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office personnel took him into custody before 12 p.m., a Daily Mail story revealed. A six-vehicle motorcade entered Jakubonis’ apartment complex, and shortly after departed with the suspect in custody, the outlet reported.
Zeldin — the Republican nominee for New York governor who currently represents eastern Long Island in the House of Representatives — was assaulted with a bizarre weapon during a campaign stop in Monroe County on Thursday night.
Jakubonis — who is accused of wielding “a set of self-defense knuckles which had two sharp pointed ends” at Zeldin’s throat — was previously charged with attempted second-degree assault, which caused him to be let out of police custody.
New York gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin attacked at rally
Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, was attacked by a man wielding a sharp object during a campaign event Thursday, according to Zeldin and video of the event posted on social media. Zeldin said he was not seriously injured, and the perpetrator was taken into custody.
“I’m OK,” Zeldin said in a statement. “Fortunately, I was able to grab his wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him.”
Zeldin, who will face off against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in November, said he was speaking to supporters in Fairport, New York, when the man tried to attack him. Zeldin said he was able to finish his speech after law enforcement took the man into custody. He did not provide any information about the alleged attacker.
Video appeared to show a man approach Zeldin while he was speaking on stage. The man, who held what appeared to be a small, sharp object in one hand, stopped briefly before bringing his hand near Zeldin’s face. Zeldin can then be seen grabbing the man’s wrist before he is subdued.
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
His spokesperson said all members of Zeldin’s team, including the nominee for lieutenant governor, Alison Esposito, were safe.
“This is very much getting out of hand in this state,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “Unfortunately, Congressman Zeldin is just the latest New Yorker whose life has been affected by the out of control crime and violence in New York. This needs to stop!”
Hochul released a statement on Twitter saying she was “relieved to hear” Zeldin was not hurt.
“I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest terms possible — it has no place in New York,” she wrote.
Zeldin is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented Long Island since 2015, according to The Associated Press. He is an ally of former President Trump and voted against certifying the 2020 election results, the AP said.
New York state GOP Chair Nick Langworthy told The Associated Press that he didn’t have any further information on the incident but he did exchange text messages with Zeldin after the attack, as the congressman spoke to police.
“He is fine. He’s not seriously injured. It’s just a chaotic scene there,” Langworthy told the AP. He said Zeldin sustained “a little scrape,” but nothing he’d consider an injury.