U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, from Long Island has the overwhelming support of his Republican Party leaders…..
Andrew Giuliani came up very much short….
This was NOT a primary…..
New York’s Republicans have informally anointed U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a four-term member of Congress from Long Island’s Suffolk County, as their pick to run for governor next year, when Andrew Cuomo may be running for a fourth term.
Zeldin earned 85 percent of the weighted vote in a straw poll taken during a meeting of county leaders in a suburb of Albany. State party Chair Nick Langworthy said Zeldin will now be considered the “presumed nominee,” allowing him roughly 17 months to drum up support and donors for the 2022 general election.
But the size of Zeldin’s support did not deter other GOP hopefuls, including Andrew Giuliani, suggesting that Zeldin may face a primary next June.
Zeldin said he is confident he has built an operation strong enough to withstand a challenge from other Republicans in a primary and from Democrats in the general election. “The rule of fire supremacy in the military, the way I’m trained, is that for every one bullet fired at you, fire three back,” said Zeldin, a 41-year-old veteran of Iraq and a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve….
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Giuliani, a former Trump aide who has never run for political office and whose high-profile father is under federal investigation, said he believes he has more crossover support than Zeldin, a necessity in a state with about 6.7 million registered Democrats and about 3 million registered in no party.
Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who lost to Cuomo in 2014 but is hoping for a rematch next year, was harsher in his assessment, calling the vote “meaningless” in a statement. (He was not at the gathering because of a planned trip to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary.) Astorino’s home county’s backing gave him 5 percent of the weighted vote. Ten percent of the weighted vote was from a handful of counties that abstained. No other candidate received a portion of the weighted vote.
“The 3 million Republicans throughout New York will be deciding who the strongest candidate is in next June’s primary, not a few dozen party insiders, many of whom have told me they were pressured into making an endorsement they weren’t ready to make,” Astorino said….
Note….
Zeldin IS a Trump guy….
image…New York Post