DeSantis stumps for Zeldin, painting Florida as New York's future

ALBANY, N.Y. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday night that his state can be a model of what New York could be if Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin is elected governor.

DeSantis, widely considered a 2024 presidential contender, hyped up a rally on Zeldin’s native Long Island where the state’s top Republicans urged the crowd to take advantage of early voting that started Saturday and as a grinning Andrew Giuliani could be seen tossing T-shirts and footballs into the crowd in between speakers.

Electing a Republican New York governor on Nov. 8 — which hasn’t been done since 2002 — “will be the 21st century version of the shot heard round the world,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis earned cheers touting his own record of avoiding Covid-19 vaccine mandates, criticizing state education policies teaching about systemic racism and cracking down on the protests in the wake of George Floyd death in 2020 by using National Guard forces. He said that Zeldin’s leadership — particularly in criminal justice areas — would stop the outmigration to his own state.

“I would say the number one thing I hear, where people get so fed up, is they are sick and tired of the crime that you see, particularly in New York City,” he added. “Florida is a law-and-order state. I am a law-and-order governor. If Lee Zeldin gets into office, New York will become a law-and-order state.”

DeSantis is no friend to New York’s leaders — he and Gov. Kathy Hochul traded barbs about her comments that some Republicans in the state should take a bus to Florida — and his part in sending migrants as political statements to large cities is causing grief for elected officials in New York.

“I'd like to see him get in there and unleash your own energy here in the state of New York,” DeSantis said about Zeldin. “So I think this is an important choice for the state of New York. Do you want to continue down the path that you're on — the path that’s seen you hemorrhage people, wealth, you name it. Or you want to try a different direction?”

Florida surpassed New York as the nation's third largest state in 2014.

Zeldin’s campaign has gained momentum in recent weeks with promises to aggressively crack down on crime, boosted by millions of dollars from outside groups.

In response, Hochul’s campaign has pivoted to emphasize her work on crime and economic issues. State and national Democrats have frantically rallied to bolster the Hochul campaign’s presence in vulnerable areas, including New York City. Former President Barack Obama backed “his friend” Hochul in a Friday radio ad encouraging New Yorkers to vote.

Zeldin, to the cheering audience on Saturday, feigned concern that national celebrities have begun to weigh in attacks against him, citing actor Mark Ruffalo’s Twitter response to Zeldin’s promise to reverse the state’s ban on fracking if elected.

“Leonardo DiCaprio retweeted it," he said. "I was crushed. I was humiliated. And then Amy Schumer tweeted at me. And I just needed to be out with my friends tonight to recover from the devastating impact.”

Hochul's campaign blasted the visit by DeSantis and a rally planned Monday for Zeldin with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, saying it is another example of Zeldin's conservative stances in the heavily blue state.

"Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin are prime examples of far-right Republicans who have worked to roll back abortion rights and bring more guns into their communities," Hochul spokesperson Jerrel Harvey said in a statement. "Lee Zeldin is cut from the same extremist cloth."