Gov. Hochul turns to heavy hitters Vice President Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton at rally targeting women voters
NEW YORK -- With five days to go and polls tightening, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Lee Zeldin are working hard to get their voters to the polls.
On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and state Attorney General Letitia James were rallying for the governor at Barnard College.
It was no coincidence those stumping were all women. The governor's top goal at the event was to win over female voters.
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Hochul's rally on the Upper West Side brought out the stars of the Democratic party. They slammed Rep. Zeldin's opposition to abortion rights and highlighted their concerns that he'll cut funding for abortion services if elected.
"Of course they want to turn back the clock on abortion. They spent 50 years trying to make that happen," Clinton said.
"We cannot sit it out. We cannot stand by the sidelines. The right to make decisions about our bodies. The ability to have basic health care," James said.
"The government should not be telling anyone what to do with their own body," Harris said.
"We will protect the right to an abortion in this state, right here, right now and forever," Hochul said.
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Zeldin has repeatedly hammered Hochul on crime and public safety, but the governor's campaign got some good news Thursday when the NYPD announced a decrease in gun violence -- 85 shooting incidents in the month of October this year, compared to 128 in October of 2021.
Still, many other major crimes are up compared to last year, and subway crimes are up 40 percent.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell attempted to deflate Zeldin's complaints on subway safety, saying, "Our officers are elevating their work every day, particularly in the subway system, where the public is seeing our visible presence, extensive coverage in trains and platforms, and more engagement with riders and those who work in the system."
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Zeldin had his own late-day rally Thursday upstate to get out the vote.
"We are going to declare a crime emergency here in the state of New York," he told the crowd.
Zeldin tells his supporters crime and high taxes are driving people out of the state.
"They're looking at other states like Florida and Texas and the Carolinas and Tennessee and elsewhere, and they feel like their money will go further, they will feel safer and they will live life freer," he said.
Hochul has argued that in this year's budget there is a middle class tax cut, and officials have tried to deal with inflation by eliminating the state gas tax through the end of the year.
Neither campaign is taking their foot off the gas. Zeldin is expected to be at a rally in the Bronx on Friday, and Hochul is slated to attend a Get Out the Vote rally Saturday in Queens.