Lee Zeldin not ruling out US Senate nomination against Kirsten Gillibrand

Former GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin is keeping his options open and does not rule out Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s entry next year.

“I will return to public service, but right now I have nothing to announce,” Zeldin told reporters in Albany at his first press conference after a tough race in which he lost 53% to 47% last November to the governor. Kathy Hochul in Democratic-dominated New York.

Gillibrand fueled rumors of a 2024 matchup after raising funds for the idea, announcing last month her intention to run for a new term.

“The reason my name is being mentioned and running against Senator Gillibrand is because Senator Gillibrand and others keep bringing my name up… She is trying to create a sense of urgency in potential donors so that they will want to give her money,” Zeldin added before refusing. exclude a campaign against it.

Running for the Senate is one of several possible moves by Zeldin, who has also faced calls in recent months to run for Congress, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Suffolk County Executive and Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Zeldin has also kept quiet about reports of plans to open a political consulting business to share some of the political wisdom he says he has accumulated in his losing campaign against Hole.

“In fact, you can learn as much, if not more, from your experience with a campaign that may have just ended,” he said.

He told reporters he would fire his longtime campaign treasurer Nancy Marks as he prepares to launch a new federal Super PAC following reports of her liaison with hardened liar Rep. George Santos.

Zeldin had no problem sharing unsolicited advice with Hochul via the media on Monday, noting she should “go public” to overcome left-wing opposition to her plans to change controversial bail laws and increase the number of charter schools allowed in New York. .

The newly elected governor defended her attitude to rising crime – the main issue of the 2022 campaign – during her speech in Syracuse on Monday, where she touted the proposals in her newly proposed state budget.

“Everyone is blaming New York State bail laws for the widespread rise in crime. Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC. So it had nothing to do with [bail reform] Let’s just deal with reality,” Hochul said.

“But when it comes to serious crimes, violent crimes, gun crimes that hurt other people. You have to give judges a free hand so they can look at this,” Hochul said of her proposal to abolish a legal standard requiring judges to release criminal defendants with the “least restrictive” conditions prior to their trials.

A rep for Hochul did not immediately comment that her former rival hates her job as governor.

The now unemployed former Congresswoman also criticized Hochul for signing into law a $32,000 pay raise for state legislators weeks before progressive state senators voted against her candidacy for Chief of the New York Supreme Court.

Her budget proposal requires municipalities to increase the amount of housing by a few percentage points each year — otherwise there is a risk of overturning local zoning laws — also unnecessarily pissing people off in places like Long Island, where she performed relatively poorly in the 2022 race, according to Zeldin.

“The Governor’s State of the Union message shows the lack of talent in the people around her, with all due respect,” he said of the Jan. 10 speech in which Hochul first detailed her housing offerings.

Zeldin argued last year that Hochul would never win an election if only he and his supporters worked hard enough, but said on Monday that one of his most popular campaign lines not meant to be taken literally.

“Losing is not an option” is the mentality that drove me, that made our team, our fans all day every day to do our best, everywhere, taking absolutely nothing for granted, ”he said, remaining silent about your future. plans. “It’s just how I’m connected to these campaigns.”