The candidates for governor spent their final day on the trail hitting campaign stops they hope will bring out their voters tomorrow. Kathy Hochul is running for her first full term as governor, but she is facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from Republican Lee Zeldin.

On their final day of campaigning, Hochul made stops at a subway station on the Upper West Side and nearby senior centers in an area she will need to win to prevail Tuesday.

Meanwhile Zeldin did what he has done consistently throughout this campaign — highlight crime. This time in the Bronx, where a man was stabbed in the neck.

What You Need To Know

  • Hochul spent time on Manhattan’s Upper West, a key area she will need to win to prevail Tuesday

  • Republican Lee Zeldin continued to hit home his message about crime, this time in the Bronx

  • Early voting numbers show 1.2 million votes statewide, with 430,000 of those coming from the city
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Zeldin said if elected, the first thing he will do is ask Mayor Eric Adams what resources he needs to bring crime under control.

“Now if this is about plussing up NYPD, we will hear that ask,” Zeldin says. “If it has something to do with MTA and Port Authority and state troopers and national guard, maybe it won’t. But that is something for the city to communicate to the state. What I am committed to do is absolutely everything in my power to make sure that these streets and subways belong to law abiding New Yorkers and not criminals.”

Hochul claims Zeldin is trying to frighten people about crime through fear mongering and scare tactics.

“You can scare people, but I’m working on a real solution,” Hochul said. “And the solution is the state, for the first time ever, is deploying state officers into the subways. We have cameras on the trains. We’re helping people with severe mental health problems to get them off the trains because they can do harm to themselves or others.”

“So all I’m saying is, I understand the fear is out there. But fanning the flames of fear to get people terrified is another story,” the governor added.

Early voting has now concluded, and according to the Board of Elections nearly 1.2 million people voted early statewide, with more than 430,000 of those votes from here in the city.

But Zeldin claims those numbers are not from areas that favor Hochul.

“Well, it’s been great,” Zeldin said at an evening campaign stop at the Staten Island Ferry. “It’s a big issue for Hochul. I don’t know if she is going to be able to recover from this tomorrow. The turnout in certain areas where she was expecting a higher turnout just wasn’t there.”

The Hochul team countered that because of such a steep voter enrollment advantage for Democrats, particularly in the city, robust early voting numbers likely work in her favor.

“New York City is critically important, but I believe we are going to see a major turnout all over,” Hochul said. “Right here in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the early voting numbers are astounding. That is a very good barometer for us. But those who know, you got to gut it out to the end. You have to go through the tape.”

The Hochul campaign certainly demonstrated that they can pivot after running almost exclusively on national issues such as an abortion and trying to link her opponent to former President Donald Trump.

Once they realized crime was the dominant issue in the race, they were able to change their messaging. The question then becomes, was it done soon enough to satisfy voters?