Lee glee in the Nassau GOP

Daily Point

Nassau GOP all in for Lee

The past few gubernatorial races haven’t provided a lot of hope for Republican leaders looking for a win, or much excitement for the Republican faithful. But on the heels of big GOP wins in New York last November, there’s a feeling that the usual midterm swing against the party in power could be exacerbated by iffy economic news and a sense of increasing unease over crime.

And that has the Nassau County Republican Party investing in gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin’s campaign in a big way. “We picked up the tab for the convention at the Garden City Hotel this summer, that was the first thing,” Nassau County GOP chairman Joe Cairo told The Point Friday. “Then we gave him a check for $250,000 two months ago. We’ve also covered the cost of his campaign in Nassau County.”

All told, the Nassau GOP could be all in with Zeldin to the tune of $1.5 million, Cairo said.

That’s significantly more than Nassau invested in the efforts to elect Marc Molinaro, Rob Astorino, and Carl Paladino, the last three GOP candidates, each of whom was beaten soundly by former governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

So why the big spend? “This would be so out of the ordinary … we could win!” Cairo said. “If you look at the voter registration numbers in the state, it wouldn’t even seem possible.”

Cairo said he didn’t really know Zeldin at all until last summer, but the Shirley congressman had asked to sit down and Cairo said once they did, he and the other party leaders liked what they heard.

“He’s a normal guy,” Cairo said. “And Lee is a Long Island guy. I’m not saying there is some big upstate/downstate thing, but I want to be with [Suffolk County GOP chairman] Jesse Garcia, and I want to support the Long Island guy.”

“And he can win,” Cairo said. “People are fed up and it has a different feel. This is not Democrat or Republican,” he said, adding that people are ready for a change.

— Lane Filler @lanefiller

Talking Point

Democratic PAC's late spending in CD3

First lady Jill Biden’s Sunday visit to Plainview is just one sign of how much attention national Democrats are paying to New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Another is the tranche of independent expenditures in support of Democrat Robert Zimmerman, or against Republican George Santos, being dumped into the race by the House Majority PAC.

The pro-Democratic group has poured close to $400,000 into the district, much of it in October, according to an analysis of recent Federal Election Commission filings.

In recent weeks, the PAC has spent similarly big in other hot New York races such as CD22 and CD19, but not as much for the other Long Island seats: In CD2, where Jackie Gordon is trying to take down freshman GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the group this week logged a $50,000 burst into direct mail, part of around $200,000 total in the district.

Part of what the PAC is doing in support of Zimmerman is TV ads that say Zimmerman, a longtime Democratic National Committee member and public relations executive, “is about blue and green.”

“Back the blue a hundred percent,” the ad’s narrator says in a softly New York accent, “increase funding for law enforcement.”

As for the other color: “More green in our pockets by lowering costs and creating jobs.”

The PAC, which earlier this month sent a message to donors asking for more funds to stay competitive, is hardly done with the district. House Majority PAC will report $233,080 in pro-Zimmerman TV ads Friday evening, according to a spokesman for the group.

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Pencil Point

'Reddy' for change

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Puzzle Point

2022 Midterm Mania

Welcome to this election-themed puzzle. Pay attention to the eight starred clues; each of them is doing double duty. As the uncertainty builds about whom the winners will be in this election, one thing is clear: It’s all puzzling.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie