Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) hit the campaign trail for Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) in New York’s gubernatorial race Saturday night on Long Island in front of a packed crowd.
The event comes after Zeldin performed well last week in a debate against Governor Kathy Hochul (D) which has led to the polls continuing to tighten between the two candidates.
The event, next to Zeldin’s campaign headquarters in Hauppauge, had a roughly half-mile-long line to get in, National Review senior writer Dan McLaughlin wrote.
“Biggest rally of the NY governor’s race thus far,” NY1 reporter Bobby Cuza tweeted. “Long Island turning out for this Zeldin-DeSantis event.”
State chairman Nick Langworthy set the tone for the night early on, National Review reported, which was that Zeldin would be “our own Ron DeSantis” for New York.
INCREDIBLE turnout tonight on Long Island for our Get Out The Vote Rally with Florida Governor @RonDeSantisFL! THOUSANDS strong showed up for our event on only one day’s notice. 10 days until New York elects a new Governor. It can’t happen soon enough! pic.twitter.com/0rMVuNsYzW
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) October 30, 2022
“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,” DeSantis said. “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.”
“I’d like to see him get in there and unleash his 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?”
DeSantis talks about how nice it is to vote for someone who isn’t just the lesser of two evils. pic.twitter.com/0Su04OJvAr
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 30, 2022
DeSantis sticks the landing for Zeldin. pic.twitter.com/Ls00YuRyuH
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) October 30, 2022
After the event, DeSantis took to Twitter where he posted photos of the rally and encouraged people to get out and vote for Zeldin.
“NY deserves a leader who will restore law & order,” DeSantis tweeted. “@leezeldin is the man for the job. Lee will also protect NYers against irrational & liberty-infringing COVID mandates. The Zeldin victory on Nov 8th will be a shot heard ‘round the world!”
NY deserves a leader who will restore law & order. @leezeldin is the man for the job.
Lee will also protect NYers against irrational & liberty-infringing COVID mandates.
The Zeldin victory on Nov 8th will be a shot heard ‘round the world!
Support him:https://t.co/o1ZqqMuBBZ pic.twitter.com/SZol7Plwu2
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) October 30, 2022
“Just never get tired of the contrast,” one conservative wrote on social media after the event. “DeSantis also draws a huge crowd, but actually spends his speech promoting the candidate he is there to support and their message instead of just talking about himself and his personal political grudges.”
NewsNation reporter Zaid Jilani commented on the rally, “One way to think of this is that it’s the prologue to DeSantis campaign rallies.”
“DeSantis is so far up in his home state he’s in other states campaigning,” he added. “That’s not about the Florida election.”
