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.