Whereas strolling within the West Indian Day Parade, Gov. Kathy Hochul refused to talk with reporters.
AP/Yuki Iwamura
Gov. Hochul dashed away from a Brooklyn parade immediately and ignored a shouted query from The Submit — simply days after a shock ballot confirmed underdog challenger Lee Zeldin trailing her by simply 4 factors.
In contrast to Mayor Eric Adams, Hochul caught to her head-in-the-sand script and refused to interrupt stride to press the flesh and converse with reporters whereas marching within the West Indian Day parade alongside Japanese Parkway in Crown Heights.
And when Hochul — who led a contingent of dignitaries behind a big banner bearing her title, title and official seal — received to New York Avenue, earlier than the tip of the route, she peeled off and darted to a ready SUV.
The Democratic governor briefly turned her head in response to a shouted query from The Submit asking when she’ll debate Zeldin, an outgoing Republican congressman from Lengthy Island.
However she didn’t reply, received into the car and was pushed away behind its tinted home windows.
GOP political advisor William O’Reilly, who isn’t working for Zeldin, stated, “Gov. Hochul thinks she will run a Rose Backyard technique, however she does so at her personal peril.”
“New Yorkers count on their candidates to debate, they usually don’t look kindly on those that attempt to squirrel out of them,” he stated.
“As an unelected governor, Mrs. Hochul has an added obligation to voters, however at this level, she doesn’t appear to care. She thinks she will coast to victory, and that may very well be a really pricey mistake.”
On Aug. 17, Hochul’s marketing campaign stated she “appears to be like ahead” to going through off in debates towards Zeldin however wouldn’t say if she’ll conform to his plan for 5 debates throughout the Empire State.
The CBS New York and PIX11 TV stations have provided to host and broadcast one debate every.
In an announcement following Hochul’s disappearing act Sunday, Zeldin requested, “What's Kathy Hochul so afraid of?”
“She may simply settle for the CBS2 and PIX11 debate requests immediately!” stated Zeldin, who appeared very accessible on the identical parade.
“Voters deserve the flexibility to make an knowledgeable choice about the way forward for our state, to be taught first hand the place the 2 candidates stand on the problems most vital to them and forged their vote accordingly.”
Hochul — who succeeded Gov. Andrew Cuomo when he resigned final 12 months over a sexual harassment scandal and is going through probes of his dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic — has persistently led Zeldin by as a lot as 24 factors in polls forward of the Nov. 8 election.
However survey outcomes launched Saturday by the impartial Trafalgar Group confirmed Hochul with a slim, 47.8%-43.4% lead over Zeldin, with a 2.9% margin of error.
Trafalgar chief pollster Robert Cahaly tweeted that the “numbers are stunning” however stated there’s been “a giant shift in favor of non incumbents” within the wake of President Biden’s choice final month to cancel as a lot as $20,000 in scholar debt per borrower.
The earlier ballot relating to the gubernatorial race — which gave Hochul a commanding, 55%-31% edge — was launched on Aug. 23, someday earlier than Biden’s controversial announcement.
When requested for remark Sunday, Hochul’s marketing campaign recycled its assertion from final month, saying: “As she has in each election all through her profession, Gov. Hochul appears to be like ahead to debating Congressman Zeldin this fall.”
“New Yorkers want to listen to about Lee Zeldin’s allegiance to the MAGA agenda and far-right document on weapons and abortion rights and Gov. Hochul will ship that message to voters forward of November,” the assertion added.
Throughout the parade, Adams made time to reply questions from reporters on matters that included the arsenic-tainted water found final week at a public housing advanced in Manhattan’s West Village.
A Hochul spokeswoman famous that the governor briefly spoke to reporters at a pre-parade breakfast and claimed she didn’t hear The Submit’s query as she received into her SUV.
“The governor commonly and incessantly solutions questions from the press, together with earlier immediately and two separate press availabilities on Thursday, and whereas she didn't hear this explicit query as she was leaving the parade, she appears to be like ahead to as soon as once more answering questions from the press at her subsequent availability tomorrow,” spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays stated.
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