Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin is closing in on incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York’s tightening gubernatorial race, a poll released Saturday found.
The survey, conducted by the independent Trafalgar Group, found Hochul with just a 4 percent lead over the Long Island congressman — a significant narrowing in a race that has seen Hochul with a lead of up to 24 points.
The poll of 1,091 likely general election voters, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, pegged Hochul at 47.8% — and Zeldin, at 43.4%, nipping at the Democrat’s heels.
That put the governor’s lead outside the poll’s 2.9% margin of error — but not by much.
An additional 2.7% of respondents said they support Libertarian Larry Sharpe, with 6.7% undecided.
The race’s last poll, released Aug. 23 and conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of WNYT-TV in Albany, found Hochul with an overwhelming 55% support, compared to 31% for Zeldin and 14% undecided.
Zeldin touted the results on Facebook and Twitter.
“People are fed up with Hochul’s feckless leadership,” he said. “This poll underscores our unprecedented momentum.”
“I know the… numbers are surprising,” Trafalgar Group pollster Robert Cahaly tweeted Saturday.
“But we at Trafalgar Group have seen a big shift in favor of non incumbents since Biden announced his #studentloanforgiveness package,” Cahaly continued. “No other issue this cycle has enraged middle and working class voters more than this.”