NEW YORK -- I voted this afternoon for Congressman Lee Zeldin in the Empire State’s Republican gubernatorial primary. I was proud to do so and was fortunate to have picked from among several promising and worthy candidates.
Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino is on today’s ballot. He is a solid conservative who won two terms in the strongly Democrat suburban community north of Gotham City. Astorino is smart, well-spoken, and successfully has appealed to Hispanic voters. I have interviewed and met him several times and always have found him affable, thoughtful, and appealing.
Andrew Giuliani also faces GOP voters in this primary. I expected him to be a Daddy’s boy candidate, like George W. Bush, who won the White House to impress his father. But the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani seems like more than just Andrew “W.” Giuliani. He is a far better contender on the stump than I imagined. His policy-oriented experience in President Donald J. Trump’s White House seems impressive. And his agenda has a delightful “Make New York Great Again” ring.
So, how did I decide among these three candidates?
First, I ignored Harry Wilson, a self-financed interloper who worked in the Obama-Biden White House. That is a deal killer.
Second, I applied William F. Buckley’s axiom: Voters on the Right should vote for the most conservative candidate who can win.
In this sense, Zeldin of Long Island seems the most likely to defeat cranky, far-Left Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul. She is Andrew Cuomo with neither the sexual misconduct nor the warmth.
Zeldin has battled Democrats in seven general elections. He has won the last six such face-offs, after losing a 2008 U.S. House bid against Democrat Tim Bishop -- 41.6% for Zeldin and 58.4% for Bishop.
Zeldin comfortably won a New York State Senate seat in 2010 with 57.1% amid nationwide revulsion with Obama and ObamaCare. In 2012, as Obama handily beat Republican Mitt Romney, Zeldin retained his post in Albany with 55.7% of the vote.
Zeldin won Bishop’s U.S. House seat in 2014: 54.4% to 45.6%. He has defended it in three more runs, winning 58.2% in 2016, 51.5% in 2018, and 54.9% in 2020.
Even as Democrat Joe Biden racked up more ballots than Republican President Donald J. Trump two Novembers ago, Zeldin won 205,715 votes -- a healthy base from which to win a statewide victory over New York’s corrupt, extreme, exhausted Democrat Party.
While Zeldin is several shades more moderate than many of my fellow GOP firebreathers and I would prefer, he has been endorsed by the Buckleyesque Conservative Party and no less than Congressman Jim Jordan (R - Ohio), a Right-wing firebrand and the No 1. most conservative member of Congress rated by the American Conservative Union – ever.
“Lee Zeldin is a conservative and Army veteran who believes New York deserves better… better than Cuomo’s corruption, lies, and failed policies,” Jordan said. “Lee is a proven leader who has dedicated his life to service, and he sure isn’t going to stop now. In the face of Cuomo’s failures, Lee is fighting for New Yorkers and doing what he needs to do to save his state.”
While Astorino’s conservative street cred is beyond challenge, his electoral history lacks luster.
Like Zeldin, Astorino has confronted Democrats in seven Novembers. Of those, he has won three races and lost four, including his last three races in a row.
After winning a seat in the Westchester County Legislature in 2003 with 52.3%, he lost a bid two years later for Westchester County Executive, with just 41.8%. Astorino won that post in 2009 with 56.9% and held it in 2013 with 56.0%.
Nice!
Alas, Astorino stumbled in 2014 when he ran for governor against the Democrat ticket of Andrew Cuomo and (now incumbent) Kathy Hochul. Astorino polled 40.3% versus Cuomo-Hochul’s 54.3%.
Astorino fell short, 43.4% to 56.5%, when he fought Democrat George Latimer in 2017 for his old position as Westchester County chief. He also missed in 2020 when he scored 48.1%, and Democrat Peter Harckham earned 51.9%, returning the latter to the State Senate.
For all his positives, Astorino’s string of defeats hardly instills confidence, even in what looks like a potentially epic year for Republicans -- assuming we all toil as needed to win.
As for Andrew Giuliani, he never has run for office. He has many years ahead to present himself to the voters anew.
Lee Zeldin is smart, tough, and about as conservative as one can be to carry a state that is not exactly Mississippi or Wyoming. He is the GOP’s best shot to beat the abrasive, socialist Kathy Hochul and then give Albany the high colonic it so badly needs.
Manhattan-based Fox News Contributor Deroy Murdock is a veteran conservative activist.