Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Democrat incumbent facing Representative Lee Zeldin, a Trump-aligned Republican. "She’s someone who takes action; she gets things done," Biden said of Hochul." ...
With an overwhelmingly Democratic state seeing an apparent surge in Republican momentum, President Biden came to the Hudson Valley of New York on Sunday to rally the party faithful for Gov. Kathy Hochul, the incumbent facing a surprisingly strong challenge from Representative Lee Zeldin, a Trump-aligned Republican.
“How about that governor of yours? She’s something else,” said Mr. Biden, who spoke for more than a half-hour at Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester County. “She’s someone who takes action; she gets things done.”
Mr. Biden roamed the stage during his speech, microphone in hand, and characterized Election Day and the coming 2024 campaign as “inflection points” for the next 20 years. “This election isn’t a referendum; it’s a choice,” he said. “It’s a choice between two fundamentally different visions of America.”
In particular, the president cited Ms. Hochul, who became governor last year after the resignation of Andrew M. Cuomo, for a strong defense of abortion rights in the state as well as her support of gun control, particularly in the wake of a racist massacre in Buffalo in May.
“Governor Hochul is the first woman to serve as governor of New York,” the president said. “And on Tuesday night, with your help, she’ll be the first woman elected governor of New York.”
The governor’s race has become one of the more competitive in the nation, despite New York being a deeply Democratic state, with registered party members outnumbering Republicans by more than 2 to 1. The state’s voters haven’t elected a Republican to a statewide office in two decades, but Mr. Zeldin has displayed strength in some polls, narrowing the gap to single digits with a campaign focused on crime and the economy.
On that point, Mr. Biden also lobbed an attack, saying Mr. Zeldin “talks a good game on crime, but it’s all talk,” citing the congressman’s vote against a bipartisan gun control bill earlier this year.
Several Democratic luminaries have come to the state in the Hochul campaign's closing days, including the Clintons and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Ms. Hochul has been campaigning on a frantic schedule in recent days in the New York City area, a Democratic stronghold that is key to any election in the state.
In remarks before Mr. Biden spoke, Ms. Hochul said she was fighting for good jobs, access to abortion, and the “sanctity of the ballot box,” among other priorities. “You know what’s at stake,” she said, adding, “When Democrats turn out to vote in the state of New York, we win. It’s that simple.”
For their part, some Republicans mocked the president’s efforts, saying it indicated how weak of a candidate Ms. Hochul was.
“Kathy Hochul sees the writing on the wall, but she has nowhere left to turn,” said Andrew Eisenberger, the New York communications director of the Republican National Committee. “That’s the only explanation for why she would invite deeply unpopular Joe Biden to campaign with her.”