SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — Less than a week after speaking at the Cheektowaga Police Department about violent crime and bail reform, Lee Zeldin stood outside of his house Sunday night with his family in outrage after a bullet landed 30 feet from his twin teenage daughters at their Long Island home.
“I’m standing in front of crime scene tape in front of my own house,” Zeldin said. “You can’t get me more outraged than right now.”
Two teenagers were shot outside of Zeldin's house on Sunday afternoon while his daughters were home doing homework in his kitchen. The congressman was not present at the time.
The incident marks the second violent crime to impact Zeldin in the last three months, as he was assaulted at a campaign event in Monroe County back in July.
Zeldin has centered his gubernatorial campaign around crime. With Sunday’s incident coming just four weeks before Election Day, some political analysts are calling the event an October surprise, especially when it comes to Long Island — a region that rarely sees crime and one where Zeldin currently trails Kathy Hochul by four points, according to Carl Calabrese.
“Crime has come to these neighborhoods,” the political strategist said. “He's got a chance to talk about that and maybe start to reverse those numbers because, without a big win in the Long Island suburbs, it's very tough to see how Republicans can win the state.”
According to Siena College, two of the top three issues for New York voters this election, are the economy and crime, which has been on the rise in the state’s two biggest cities as the number of shootings has increased in Buffalo by 186% since 2019, per the Buffalo Police Department.
Now Calabrese says Zeldin has the chance to combine both issues, as major corporations around the country like Starbucks have recently moved their locations due to high crime rates.
“If he ties it into the economy and just points to all of the jobs exiting major cities that have seen crime go rampant, he's got an economic opportunity there or an economic issue that he can turn into an opportunity,” Calabrese said. “He will then be talking about the number one and number three issue that could change the narrative.”
But other analysts think Hochul’s lead is just too much with early voting starting in 19 days and the latest Siena Poll having the incumbent leading by 17 points.
“Many people they have watched the commercials have seen the candidates speak, have a pretty good idea of where they stand, and they probably have a pretty good idea of how they're going to vote,” said political analyst Ken Kruly.
The Suffolk Police department released a statement Sunday afternoon stating there is no reason to believe there is a connection between the shooting and Zeldin’s family. Investigators are still searching for those involved.