Zeldin could win with Democrat support as New York's crime crisis 'crosses party lines’: George Pataki

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NY crime crisis 'crosses party lines,' can give Zeldin the Democrats he needs to win: George Pataki

Former New York Republican Gov. George Pataki reflects on his unlikely election win in 1994 and argues voters care more about crime than party.

Former New York Republican Gov. George Pataki said Thursday that he believes Rep. Lee Zeldin has a "real chance" of defeating Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York's gubernatorial race next week as New Yorkers grow increasingly frustrated with her handling of the crime wave that has hit their city.

Polls indicate Zeldin could be closing the gap with Hochul, who has been heavily criticized for her response to New York's mounting crime crisis and support for lax criminal justice laws. Zeldin, a congressman and ally of former President Donald Trump, has tightened the race in recent weeks after focusing on rising violent crime in New York. 

With just days until Election Day, Pataki told Fox News that Zeldin's focus on crime could earn him enough Democratic support to push him over the edge in the increasingly competitive race.

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NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2022/10/11: Congressman Lee Zeldin (C) attends the annual Columbus Day parade on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.  (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

"The no-bail law has been a catastrophe. You see incident after incident of somebody arrested for horrific crimes…they’re almost always let out the same day. It’s just horrific," Pataki said on "The Story." 

"This crosses party lines to win as a Republican, you need 1.5 million Democrats to say we need a change. The way crime is in this city and this state now and the way people are leaving the state, number one in the country in population loss, Zeldin has a real chance to get the Democrats he needs to win this election."

Pataki, the last Republican to hold New York's top office, defeated Mario Cuomo in 1994 despite polls showing the three-term Democrat leading by double digits. While Hochul maintains a slight edge over Zeldin in the latest polling, Pataki said there's "no question" that Zeldin can pull off an upset as he did.

"Of course, They were way off. The polls are so close, anything can happen now," he told host Martha MacCallum.

"He can definitely pull off an upset," Pataki added. "There’s no question in my mind about it. The big issue is crime. You have to get enough votes out of New York City. You walk the streets of New York, you talk to people in the neighborhoods, they don’t care about party. They care about being safe. Right now, New York is failing to keep them safe. That’s a direct consequence of the failures of Albany. So Zeldin is focused on crime, I think he’s right to do that and I think It gives him a very credible chance."

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 24: New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks, about the joint effort to combat gun violence at the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) office on August 24, 2022 in New York City. .  ((Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images))

Pataki later chastised former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is scheduled to campaign on behalf of Hochul Thursday, for downplaying the crime crisis and accusing Republicans of trying to "scare" voters by exaggerating the impact of violent crime in the state.

"You can tell Hillary lives in Washington D.C.," Pataki said, "because if you go on the subways, there’s nobody there. People are afraid to ride the subway. 26 people have been pushed off of the platform in front of platforms and she says Republicans are just talking about it.? Well, Zeldin has an aggressive agenda. Get rid of the no-bail law. Get rid of the law that allows 17-year-olds to be treated as kids. Get rid of prosecutors who won't uphold the law and get the mentally ill homeless that are a threat off of the streets. It’s a real issue. Maybe somebody in Washington D.C. doesn’t know," he went on, "but if you live in New York, you know it’s a real issue."

Former Clinton pollster Mark Penn expressed a similar sentiment in a Fox News interview a day earlier, predicting that the tragic killing of a young mother which was blamed on Hochul's soft-on-crime policies could be the final straw for New York Democrats.

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 4: A seagull flies past One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building as seen from the Staten Island Ferry on September 4, 2020 in New York City. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

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"Crime is the number one issue in New York State, and this horrific murder, in which someone beats her first and is let out on the street, this could be the incident close enough to the election, clear enough in its relation to the bail laws…this could really be it," Penn, a Fox News contributor, told "America's Newsroom."