Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is leading incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) in the New York gubernatorial race, according to new polling.
In a poll released Tuesday, the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, finds Stefanik getting 43 percent support compared to Hochul’s 42 percent — a statistical tie that still gives the House Republican a slight edge.
Nine percent of those surveyed said they support someone else, while 7 percent said they are “not sure.”
The results mark a major reversal from just a couple of months ago, when an August Siena College poll showed Hochul with a 14-point lead over Stefanik.
The two have targeted each other in recent remarks and ads, with the GOP representative slamming Hochul for endorsing New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The same Manhattan Institute survey found Mamdani holding a commanding lead over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (I).
“New Yorkers of all political parties are hungry for new commonsense leadership after decades of Hochul’s failed single party Democrat rule,” Bernadette Breslin, Stefanik’s campaign spokesperson said in a statement.
“Elise Stefanik and the people of New York can and will win this righteous fight to Save New York,” she added.
Stefanik made similar comments during a mid-September appearance on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”
“Well, Kathy Hochul is the worst governor in America, and it was only a matter of time before she bent the knee for this raging antisemite communist,” Stefanik said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”
Hochul did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the new poll.
But more recently, Hochul criticized the Republican Party for using racially offensive language while commenting on the news earlier this month about a Young Republicans group chat where Nazi terminology was used.
“We have a leader from the Republican Party in this state, the highest ranking individual, who in the backdrop of all this calls our candidate for mayor, one of our candidates for mayor, a jihadist and a terrorist,” Hochul said, referring to comments made about Mamdani.
“And then somehow says, ‘oh, what they said, these young Republicans was wrong.’ Like, look at what you say yourself. Look at your inflammatory words,” she added. “And maybe they have an effect on these young people, many of whom you support and have supported you. And you ought to just do a little reexamination of how far this has gone.”
The Manhattan Institute poll reached 300 likely voters across the state from Oct. 22-26, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
