New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is optimistic of the possibility that Rep. Lee Zeldin (R) will defeat Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) on Tuesday to take on his plans for criminality and security, according to the New York Post.
While Adams has publicly supported and ran for Governor, an anonymous source who has long-term ties to Adams as well as his New York City Council told the Post that Adams will have more opportunities to tackle crime in New York City if Zeldin is chosen governor this Tuesday.
A long-time Democrat who has connections to Adams has told the Post they “Zeldin would give [Adams] more free rein in New York City from a leadership perspective and they would be able to tag team the far left together.”
Adams isn't alone in acknowledging the fact that New York may elect a Republican governor, and Adams his city hall's leadership team would not be dissatisfied in the event that Hochul was defeated by Zeldin in the Tuesday election.
The Democrat insider who spoke to the Post:
“Eric Adams and his inside City Hall leadership team . . . I wouldn't be too upset by the Zeldin win since it will assist the mayor in changing bail reforms in the coming session of the legislature. Hochul won't be able to make that happen in the present because she needs to face the left-wing members of the state legislature nearly every day on a regular basis.”
A long-time New York City Council insider said that a few Democrats who are on council that publicly favor Hochul are secretly voting for Zeldin. A city council insider has informed the Post:
“Many of Adam's supporters support Lee Zeldin due to the fact that they are in agreement with him over a range of issues. There are even Council Members who're Democrats and secretly whisper that they'll be voting for Zeldin and some of them have supported Hochul. I'd bet on the Bible regarding this.”
The report by the Post comes asvCNN revealed that New York Democrat officials and strategists are preparing for massive losses across the state, especially in the gubernatorial race.
New York Democrats are reportedly worried about crime, and the Republicans have presented themselves as tough-on-crime alternatives.
As Breitbart News detailed:
“For instance, the poll conducted in October found that the majority of Americans consider violent crime to be an important issue in our country. Additionally, a recently conducted Pew Research Center poll found that black voters, who have historically been an overwhelmingly blue-colored voting bloc, are worried about crime and violence more than other ethnic groups with 81% of black Americans believing that it is an issue of great importance when deciding which candidate to support in the coming week.”
In examining who the people blame the current criminality on, a Harvard/Harris survey conducted in October revealed that 64 percent of people believe that “woke politicians” are responsible and a majority of Democrat voters agree too.
New York Democrats passed a law in 2019 that eliminated cash bail. Since that time, auto theft, robberies, and the rate of rape has risen dramatically. In addition, 211 people were detained on at least 3 occasions for burglary and 899 were arrested more than three times in connection with shoplifting within the first quarter of 2022, as per New York Police Department numbers.
Adams has been a vocal opponent of the 2019 bail reform law. He also asked Hochul to convene an emergency legislative session to debate the law.
Zeldin has publicly acknowledged that Adams could be “an important ally in the efforts to overhaul cashless bail in New York.”
“I believe the story that will be written in 2023 is about how Governor Zeldin is working with Mayor Adams to save the city,” Zeldin stated to the Washington Post in September. He also said one of the initial phone calls after winning the election will include a call to Mayor Adams.
A spokesperson from Adams' office stated that Hochul's mayor “strongly supports” Hochul, a Zeldin insider informed to the Post, “Their relationship is quite personal. It's not at the departmental level . It's not even on the staff.”
After being in the lead in polls for several months, Zeldin is now leading Hochul by a small margin according to a Trafalgar Group poll released Monday.
