President Biden, who appeared with Gov. Kathy Hochul at an event in Syracuse, N.Y., last month, has agreed to campaign with her on Sunday....
President Biden will campaign with Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Sunday, making a last-minute midterm swing to try to save his party’s candidate amid a swell of Republican support in one of the nation’s most liberal states.
Mr. Biden will attend a rally in Yonkers in Westchester County with Ms. Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer and other Democrats to try to boost what has been lackluster enthusiasm among the party’s base in early voting.
Ms. Hochul’s campaign confirmed the event, which was first reported by Capitol Pressroom.
The 11th-hour intervention by Mr. Biden, and other prominent Democratic surrogates, is more typical for a swing state than New York, but it underscores just how close the race has become in its closing days.
Ms. Hochul appears to be holding onto a narrow lead over Representative Lee Zeldin, a four-term Republican from Long Island. Yet Mr. Zeldin has made meaningful inroads across the state in the race’s closing weeks, and there are signs that Republican enthusiasm is surging, making it one of the closest contests for governor that New York has seen in two decades.
Mr. Biden, whose approval rating in recent polls appears to be about even to slightly above water in New York, will be the centerpiece of a concerted star-studded push by Ms. Hochul to turn out her base. The governor is scheduled to campaign on Saturday with former President Bill Clinton in Brooklyn, home to the state’s largest Democratic voting block.
On Thursday, she appeared with Hillary Clinton, the former New York senator and Democratic nominee for president, and Vice President Kamala Harris, at an event in Manhattan. Former President Barack Obama also cut a radio ad for Ms. Hochul, but is not expected to appear on the campaign trail in New York.
Mr. Zeldin has brought in big-name Republican surrogates of his own in recent days, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Glenn Younkin of Virginia. On Saturday, he was expected to appear with Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who recently left her party.
One high-profile supporter of Mr. Zeldin has been noticeably absent: former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump helped the Republican candidate raise money earlier this fall, but he has not appeared on the campaign trail in his home state, where he remains deeply unpopular.
NYT