Yes, New York, a Republican Can Become Governor

The biggest challenge for Lee Zeldin, who is running for governor of New York, is convincing fed-up New Yorkers that he has a chance. Defeatism is the go-to mindset of Republicans in the Empire State.

During the 2017 election, when Mayor de Blasio was four years into destroying New York City, getting right-leaning voters energized about booting the widely reviled mayor was an uphill battle.

His opponent, Nicole Malliotakis, was not well known and had to battle not only Mr. De Blasio but also the New York Times and other liberal outposts.

As a result, arguably the worst mayor of all time was elected by 66 percent of the vote. That sounds impressive, but in reality only 8.5 percent of New Yorkers voted for De Blasio. That’s how pitiful the GOP resistance was.

Republicans simply didn’t show up, giving in to Democrats’ overwhelming numerical advantage. The Democrat advantage has been in place for decades. It was true when Republican George Pataki became governor in 1994 and when he was re-elected twice with record margins.

It was also true when Republican Rudolph Giuliani became mayor in 1993 by defeating Mayor Dinkins and again in 1997, and when Michael Bloomberg ran — as a Republican endorsed by Mr. Giuliani — in 2001.

In that year, in New York City, there were 2.7 million registered Democrats and only about half a million Republicans. Mr. Bloomberg won anyway.  He won, as others on the GOP line had before him, by running on compelling issues that drove voter turnout.

It can happen again. The stakes have never been higher than they are today for our city and our state. When Eric Adams ran for mayor of New York City last year, he embraced law and order even as progressives in his party favored bail reform and measures designed to hobble the city’s cops.

To read more…

https://www.nysun.com/article/yes-new-york-a-republican-can-become-governor