CASTLETON — Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Long Island Republican seeking to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul next Tuesday, declared Thursday night he would “absolutely” support an extension of the state’s temporary gasoline tax holiday when it expires at year’s end.

Responding to a CNHI inquiry, Zeldin drew a sharp contrast between Hochul’s approach to such issues and his own, arguing the Democratic governor has shown a preference for avoiding taking a stand on such issues until after Election Day while he is prepared to explain his positions in detail now.

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Would approve fracking?

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Hochul’s office last month told CNHI that her position on a gas tax holiday extension will become known when a proposed state budget in January. If Hochul loses Tuesday, however, the spending blueprint for the next fiscal year would be overseen by a Zeldin administration.

Zeldin said, “She wants you to elect her so you can find out what her position is on all these different issues in January.”

Speaking to reporters at a campaign rally featuring most members of the GOP statewide slate of candidates, Zeldin also used the gasoline tax issue as a springboard to point out he would reverse the state government’s opposition to permitting underground natural gas pipelines and hydrofracking, a technique used to extract natural gas from shale deposits.

Zeldin argued the state’s current policies on the transportation and development of fossil fuel resources is causing “pain to the people who can least afford it.”

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Stec, Jones back extending tax holiday

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Supporters of hydraulic fracturing for shale deposits credit the drilling technique with making the nation largely energy independent in 2019. Opponents say fracking contributes to climate change as well as water and air pollution and has been linked to earthquakes.

Several upstate lawmakers — among them Sen Dan Stec, R-Queensbury and Assemblymen Angelo Morinello, R-Niagara Falls, and Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake — have already signaled their support for extending the current gas tax holiday beyond January 1.

If the holiday ends on the current expiration date, motorists will have saved some $600 million at fuel pumps. The tax holiday had been backed by Hochul last spring after GOP legislators first proposed the measure to help consumers facing spiraling prices for gasoline.

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Tight race

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With Democrats outnumbering Republicans by a 2 to 1 margin in New York, Zeldin’s rise in the polls over the past month has caught political prognosticators by surprise. The race is now considered a toss-up, with several polls showing the Republican is within striking distance, with his supporters more enthusiastic about him than Hochul supporters are for her.

Zeldin said as soon as he entered the race 18 months ago, he thought he could win it by believing voters are ready for change due to “attacks on their wallet, their safety, their freedom and the quality of their kids’ education.”

The rally also featured rousing speeches by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuyler Falls; Alison Esposito, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor; Joe Pinion, the Republican challenging U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY; Michael Henry, the Republican candidate for attorney general; Marc Molinaro, the Republican running for Congress in the 19th District; Liz Joy, the Republican running for the 20th congressional district; Steve McLaughlin, the Rensselaer County executive; and Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.

Stefanik said she is confident Republicans will capture control of the House of Representatives as a result of the coming elections.

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Dem rally

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In New York City, Democrats staged their own get-out-the-vote rally, featuring Vice President Kamala Harris, who flew to the event from Washington, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both supporters of Hochul.

Recalling New York’s role in launching the movement that led to voting rights for women, Hochul said, “To all of you but particularly to the women of New York, this is our moment.”

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Cuomo comments

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Abortion rights were codified in New York in 2019, when Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, was the governor.

Cuomo, who resigned from office in August 2021, was back in the news Thursday after he told a radio interviewer Democrats both in New York and nationally had fallen out of step with voters on crime issues.

Cuomo argued Democratic candidates are now “tongue tied” on crime because they fear the “extreme left.”

“They are afraid to say dangerous criminals have to be in jail,” said Cuomo, who was governor when the state ended the ability of judges to assess the dangerousness of defendants being arraigned on criminal charges.