Crime, Trump center stage in sole New York governor’s debate

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Sparring over crime, abortion and the lethal U.S. Capitol rebellion took heart stage Tuesday as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confronted her Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin within the marketing campaign’s solely televised gubernatorial debate.

Hochul blasted Zeldin’s previous assist for abortion restrictions and for former President Donald Trump, whereas Zeldin vowed to repeal liberal felony justice reforms and criticized Hochul’s push to ship hundreds of thousands to abortion suppliers develop entry for a predicted surge in out-of-state sufferers.

Hochul labeled Zeldin an “election denier” and “local weather change denier” as she tried to hyperlink him to Trump, who loved little assist in New York.

“In Lee Zeldin’s world, you overthrow the outcomes of elections you don’t agree with,” Hochul mentioned.

Zeldin voted towards certifying the 2020 presidential election leads to Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Trump’s false claims of 2020 presidential election fraud remodeled into marching orders that summoned supporters to Washington, D.C., they usually then stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, looking for to violently block Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

When requested by a debate moderator if he would vote towards certifying the outcomes once more, Zeldin didn’t instantly say sure or no.

He as a substitute mentioned he wished to deal with the long run, and battle to institute voter ID legal guidelines to guard election integrity.

Hochul additionally requested Zeldin: “Is Donald Trump an amazing president? Sure or no?”

Zeldin praised Trump’s document on insurance policies from Israel to the U.S.-border coverage to pandemic containment.

And when a moderator requested Zeldin if he would settle for the outcomes of the election if he misplaced, Zeldin mentioned: “Properly, first off, shedding is just not an possibility. Secondly, enjoying alongside together with your hypothetical query, after all.”

Hochul, the state’s former lieutenant governor who took workplace after her successor resigned to keep away from a possible impeachment, has loved a robust lead over Zeldin in a lot of the polling this 12 months.

However Zeldin stays a contender, having fun with assist in broad swaths of upstate New York. Some latest polling suggests the hole between the candidates may very well be narrowing.

The Lengthy Island Republican has spent a lot of the 12 months railing towards a streak of shootings and different violent crimes, together with a sequence of unprovoked assaults on New York Metropolis subways. Two youngsters had been additionally injured in a drive-by capturing exterior his house earlier this month.

Zeldin on Tuesday charged Hochul with failing to take significantly the considerations of New Yorkers about crimes on subways and hate crimes towards Jewish and Asian-American communities.

He additionally argued that liberal opposition to pure gasoline extraction and new pipelines in New York is hurting the state’s economic system.

“You’re poorer and fewer secure due to Kathy Hochul and excessive insurance policies,” Zeldin mentioned, including: “You deserve higher.”

New York was among the many first states to cut back the usage of money bail for felony defendants beginning in 2020.

Each earlier than and after the reforms, solely a small fraction of the individuals launched whereas awaiting trial — lower than 1% — had been re-arrested for violent felonies.

Hochul has famous that different cities and states with out related money bail legal guidelines have seen spikes of crime since 2020.