In addition to the tightening Senate races, gubernatorial races look to be tightening as well. We've covered how this is the case in Pennsylvania, between Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro and Republican nominee Doug Mastriano. This now even includes New York, a blue state, but one where Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin has nevertheless put up a fight against Gov. Kathy Hochul.
New @InsiderAdv/@trafalgar_group #NYGov #Poll (8/31-9/1) shows #Hochul w/lead but #Zeldin a bit closer than expected. #nypol
— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) September 3, 2022
47.8% @KathyHochul
43.4% @leezeldin
2.1% @LarrySharpe
6.7% Und
See Report: https://t.co/pfW0ZnmfkW pic.twitter.com/NspqBKA0mf
A Trafalgar Group poll with Insider Advantage shows Hochul with just a 4.4 percent lead over Zeldin, despite how this is a state where forecasters consider the race to be "Safe Democratic" or "Solid Democratic." Hochul's lead is smaller than the 6.7 percent of respondents who are undecided. It was conducted August 31-September, with a 1,901 likely general election voters and a margin of error of 2.9 percent.
What makes this poll particularly telling is that a majority of respondents were Democrats, 53.65 of them, compared to the 27.5 percent who were Republicans and 18.9 percent who were listed as having no party or other affiliation. Over half of respondents, 54.3 percent, were women, a demographic where Hochul is supposedly leading with.
This poll days days after Rep. Zeldin was endorsed by Democrats in New York as well.
Since the poll was released, Gov. Hochul has tweeted about Zeldin, suggesting she may be running scared as she not only references former President Donald Trump, but January 6th as well.
Donald Trump is in New Jersey today fundraising for my opponent.
— Kathy Hochul (@KathyHochul) September 4, 2022
Lee Zeldin continues to embrace the most far-right fringe elements of his party — and he wants to be Governor of New York.
I won't let him drag our state backward.
If you fanned the flames and peddled the hate that led to the January 6th insurrection, you’re not a leader and you have no place leading New York. End of story.
— Kathy Hochul (@KathyHochul) September 4, 2022
The governor late last month raised eyebrows for invoking Lee Zeldin's name when demanding and then doubling down on how Republicans should get out of her state because they "are not New Yorkers."
Robert Cahaly, the founder of the Trafalgar Group, addressed the tighter-than-expected New York gubernatorial race, as well as the tighter-than-expected Washington senate race and the Georgia gubernatorial and senate races where Republicans have a lead.
He suggested it's to do with student loans, as "No other issue this cycle has enraged middle and working class voters more than this."
Folks I know the GA, WA, & NY #poll numbers are surprising but we at @Trafalgar_Group have seen a big shift in favor of non incumbents since #Biden announced his #studentloanforgiveness package. No other issue this cycle has enraged middle and working class voters more than this
— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) September 3, 2022
When the announcement came out about student loan debt "forgiveness" late last month, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona admitted to Fox News' Peter Doocy that there will be no benefit for Americans who already paid off their student loans or who didn't go to college.
President Joe Biden gave a bogus non-answer to question from a reporter as to if the move was "unfair to people who paid their student loans, or chose not to take out loans."
The president's popularity has been rising according to some polls, as promoted by the mainstream media. It's still not that great, though, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed him at among his lowest approval ratings shortly after the loan debt announcement was made.