With just eight days to go until Election Day, campaigns are working until the last minute to make sure they’re getting their voters to the polls. Here in New York, there's been a tightening of the polls in the race for governor.
Morgan Hook, managing director at SKDK and former communications director for Gov. David Paterson, told Capital Tonight that a close race for New York governor could spell trouble for Democrats across the country.
Polls have shown that voters are concerned about the economy and the nationwide uptick in crime.
Jessica Proud, president of Capitol Public Strategies Media and a Republican strategist, said the crime issue will play an important role in the race for governor in New York City.
Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin doesn’t need to win a majority of votes in the population center, but will need nearly a third of the vote to win the governor’s mansion. Proud added the crime issue is important for Democrats as shown by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer, winning the mayor’s office in 2021, and could buoy Zeldin’s chances.
On the other side of the aisle, Hook said the Hochul campaign and Democrats haven’t focused enough on the issues of crime and the economy until recently. The main message for Democrats this cycle has focused on abortion and other social issues, which help drive people to the polls, but isn't working as well as it did in August, according to Hook.
Back in August, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed concern about the quality of candidates the GOP has running in key states, like Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and J.D. Vance in Ohio.
Proud said that “these contests are so much bigger than the single candidates,” and voters are engaged and “want a change of direction,” which could help the GOP.
Both Hook and Proud will watch returns from key races in the Hudson Valley on Election Night. The race for the 17th Congressional District, which pits Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, against Mike Lawler, a Republican member of the state Assembly, will be a key race to watch, according to Hook and Proud.
“The Hudson Valley is going to be the biggest question mark,” Proud said.
Nancy Pelosi, who has been the Democratic leader in the House since 2002, has seen her fair share of boom-and-bust elections. Pelosi first became Speaker of the House when the Democrats took the majority in 2006 during the second term of George W. Bush. Then, Pelosi and the Democrats were pushed back into the minority in 2010 after a “shellacking,” according to then-President Barack Obama.
Ahead of an election in which Republicans could retake the House, Hook said Pelosi is “unlikely” to extend her two decades in leadership, which could usher in a new era of leadership in the House Democratic Party.
Early voting has kicked off in the Empire State and will continue through Sunday, Nov. 6. The last chance that New Yorkers will have a chance to vote in-person is Election Day on Nov. 8.