Zeldin faces new scrutiny over alleged super PAC coordination

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Democrats are again blasting Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin’s political integrity after reports that his campaign is under investigation for illegally coordinating with two super PACs.

In a virtual call Friday, state Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs charged that the latest questions about the coordination between Zeldin and the PACs — in addition to the discovery of 11,000 duplicate, photocopied signatures Zeldin’s team submitted as part of an unsuccessful effort to gain the Independence Party line this year — show he is unwilling to comply with basic state law.

“You couple that with a Lee Zeldin’s vote to deny certification for the 2020 election and you see a pattern, if you will, an illegal pattern of disregard for election laws and the fair running of elections,” Jacobs said of the Long Island congressman who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election.

According to a Thursday report from The New York Times, the chief enforcement counsel at the State Board of Elections, Michael Johnson, began a preliminary investigation into complaints, including from state Democrats, that individuals might be working for both the super PACs and Zeldin’s campaign — which could violate campaign finance law.

Johnson had asked the Board of Elections to grant him subpoena authority for the Zeldin campaign and the groups, Save Our State Inc. and Safe Together New York.

But the board did not have a quorum to hold its regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting because two Republican commissioners did not attend. The issue will likely be on hold until after Election Day, which is Nov. 8.

One of the Republican commissioners did not return a POLITICO call made following their absence from the meeting. A spokesperson for the board, when asked about their absences, said the Republican commissioners were "unavailable."

The groups have played a big part in propping up Zeldin’s campaign, contributing more than $12 million that have gone to ads attacking Gov. Kathy Hochul and spreading his tough-on-crime message.

Polls have suggested the messaging is working as the numbers have tightened — the Hochul campaign has pivoted to focus on crime and the economy, and Democrats have launched a frantic effort to boost the Hochul campaign they’d previously considered rock solid.

Jacobs suggested that the Zeldin campaign’s actions could be setting up to challenge any unfavorable results on Election Day.

“There's a lot of shenanigans going on,” Jacobs said. “And it seems like they are setting up the scenario or the narrative for the future that there's something awry.”

Zeldin campaign spokesperson Katie Vincentz said the investigation is a “desperate attempt" from the Hochul campaign.

“It’s absolutely zero coincidence that the person pushing this agenda at the Board of Elections is a political appointee of the Cuomo-Hochul administration,” she said of Johnson. “The Democratic Party is embarrassing itself with baseless tinfoil hat conspiracy theories.”

Bill Mahoney contributed to this report.