New York hasn’t had a republican governor since 2007, and with the Governors election coming up in not even two weeks that may change. Many polls now have Hochuls lead narrowing. With one poll,”TheHill.com” had Hochul at 50 percent, Zeldin at 44 percent and 4 percent undecided.

The reasons for this are quite extensive and there are many different reasons this may happen. It is important to remember Hochul was never elected governor, she took over after former Governor Cuomo resigned.

One reason New York might flip it is because many people didn’t agree with Hochuls handling of covid which left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. This handling of covid, even though it has been months, is steering people towards Zeldin.

Another major reason why people are leaning towards Zeldin, and Zeldin is campaigning hard on this, is Hochuls gun control policies. Hochul, who in the past was a strong supporter of the second amendment and even opposed stronger background checks, says her views have “evolved”. She supports outlawing certain types of guns, microstamping ammunition and red flag gun laws to take away a firearm from anyone who made a threat to themselves or someone else.

Lee Zeldin has the exact opposite view on guns. He said he plans on repealing gun control laws, and hopes the supreme court overturns New York’s concealed carry gun laws. He also thinks there should be no red flag laws. His reasoning is that it is a “very slippery slope and they could be targeting law abiding gun owners” (wxxi news.org).

Last and possibly the most significant reason people might lean toward Zeldin is the crime rate in NYC. All types of public transportation are seeing extremely high crime and violence. Especially the subways, which is many people’s form of transportation. People have been the most upset about this and it is an ongoing problem that has to be fixed. When people don’t feel safe where they live, they look to someone who can change that so many people are hoping Lee Zeldin will be that change.