There was a sense of panic from the Democrats in the lead-up to Election Day. That panic could have helped push Gov. Kathy Hochul to her eventual victory, but it’s also left lot of questions about her campaign and what could have gone wrong.
I hadn’t really covered this election until the final weeks, probably around the time Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine held a “WAKE UP DEMS” rally to energize the party.
The polls showed Hochul had a smaller and smaller lead over her Republican opponent, Lee Zeldin. Although Democrats outnumber Republican across the state, people can vote for whoever they’d like – and it seemed like some of those Democrats could acst their ballots for him depending on their biggest issues.
Hochul brought out a big list of prominent Democrats in the days before Election Day, including President Joe Biden.
I went the Saturday before election day to the governor’s meetup with Queens elected officials at the Sunnyside greenmarket, which was derailed slightly by a sole protester yelling about crime but also the 2021-era conspiracy theory that unvaccinated people would be put in camps.
Later that day Hochul held a labor-heavy rally by the Fulton Mall which featured former President Bill Clinton along with current New York City and statewide electeds. Their message, essentially: Please, please, please tell everyone you know to vote for Kathy Hochul. Please.
It felt like desperation. And maybe it was. The morning of election day Hochul came back to Queens, to meet with some voters at 61st-Woodside alongside more politicians including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The congresswoman told me people were scared of Zeldin as governor.
“People are very alarmed that there’s any kind of prospect that he can become governor, I think that’s a very motivating factor,” she said
Hours later the race was called for Hochul, but the data shows how much of a struggle it was turning out voters in New York City even as 4 of the 5 boroughs went for her.
Down ballot losses by longtime Democratic assembly members in southern Brooklyn also show a shift.
After Tuesday, more people started to call for the resignation of the state’s democratic party head, Jay Jacobs, although Hochul – from a press gaggle inside the principal’s office at an elementary school in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday – said she thinks he should stay.
She didn’t want to talk about it Friday after being asked at a restaurant in Old San Juan.
How this will all play out in future elections, even next year’s council races, remains to be seen.
As I, a competent and professional observer, often say: Only time will tell!!!
Other interesting election day reads:
Did you neighborhood turn out to vote? [THE CITY]
How Democrat Max Rose could have won under the old maps [THE CITY]
Read and subscribe to Jimmy Vielkind’s substack. His issue this week is all about the election.
More photos from Somos:
Also, I’m never standing behind a group of politicians ever again!
Thanks for reading!