GOP rivals attack Lee Zeldin in governor debate
Lee Zeldin during New York's Republican gubernatorial debate at the studios of Spectrum News NY1 on Monday, June 20, 2022, in New York. (Pool Photo/Brittainy Newman) Credit: Brittainy Newman
ALBANY — Republican candidates for governor on Monday night targeted Rep. Lee Zeldin of Shirley, who has the support of most party leaders, in a heated debate a week before the primary.
In a segment in which candidates could question their foes, Andrew Giuliani asked Zeldin if he ever had called former GOP President Donald Trump a racist.
“I believe President Trump was a great president,” Zeldin said of Trump, who remains popular among New York Republicans. “I think he was often misinterpreted.”
“Yes or no?” Giuliani demanded, dissatisfied with Zeldin’s response.
Zeldin said he had answered the question, denying he ever had called Trump a racist.
Business owner Harry Wilson took a shot at Zeldin through Rob Astorino, the former Westchester County executive, during the 90-minute debate broadcast by Spectrum News1.
Wilson asked how much Zeldin, a member of the state Senate Republican Majority when Astorino was county executive in the early 2000s, had helped local governments in the state.
“The answer is nothing,” Astorino told Wilson. “Lee Zeldin was in the Republican majority … We had to deal with all the junk coming down from Albany … It was the go-along crowd that Lee Zeldin was happy to participate in.”
Astorino accused Zeldin of voting for the budgets of former Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and for saying Cuomo would be a good president.
Zeldin denied he voted for any Cuomo budgets.
He also argued that he never said Cuomo would be a good president. But in the past, Zeldin had said Barack Obama was doing worse as president than Cuomo was doing as governor.
Zeldin, for his part, accused Wilson of lying in his TV ads that accuse Zeldin of being a former supporter of Cuomo.
In another exchange, Astorino accused Zeldin of praising Cuomo in a quote carried by newspapers.
“You said the age of dysfunction was over when corruption was rampant,” Astorino told Zeldin.
Zeldin shot back that as a state senator he helped enact a property tax cap and repealed a payroll tax that was created to help fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Zeldin accused Astorino of “being run out of town” after two terms as county executive in Westchester.
Astorino denied the allegation, noting he was elected twice in the heavily Democratic county.
Other questions focused on the candidates’ support of Trump.
Zeldin, Astorino and Wilson deflected questions about whether Trump won the 2020 presidential election, and were critical of the Commission looking into the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
But Giuliani said Trump won the election over Democrat Joe Biden.
Giuliani said the count was fraudulent, calling it one of the “greatest crimes” in the history of the United States.
On the night of the Juneteenth federal holiday celebrating African Americans' freedom from slavery, each candidate criticized the teaching of racial issues in schools, saying it was dividing students and the nation.
"I want my daughter, my baby Grace, to understand a complete view of America … that it hasn’t always been perfect, but it’s the greatest country,” Giuliani said.
“I think it's important to have more civics inside the classroom to teach [that] we get to live in the greatest country in the world,” Zeldin said.
Astorino, 55, of South Salem, served as Westchester County executive for two terms while Democrats controlled the county legislature and enjoyed a 3-to-1 voter enrollment advantage.
Giuliani, 36, of Manhattan, often praises his father, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Trump, for whom Giuliani worked in the White House.
Wilson, 50, of Scarsdale, made his fortune turning around failing businesses, as well as helping the auto industry recover from the Great Recession while working with the Obama administration.
Zeldin, 42, is a three-term congressman and a former state senator. He’s also a lawyer and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.
'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.
