OPINION:
Congratulations to Rep. Lee Zeldin, who captured 60 of the 62 New York county endorsements on the way to winning the Republican nomination for governor last week at the GOP convention.
Coming out of Mr. Zeldin’s triumphant convention, I feel the need to ask a few questions: If Mr. Zeldin has already won the nomination, why is there still a primary scheduled for late June? Wouldn’t it be far wiser for New York State Republican Committee Chair Nick Langworthy to cancel the primary and unite the party behind Mr. Zeldin’s candidacy? He could then use the upcoming 15 weeks as a head start to hammer away at the rancid Cuomo/Hochul record. Mr. Zeldin gave up a safe House seat and put his six-election winning streak on the line by going “all in” on this gubernatorial race to save our state. Doesn’t he deserve this courtesy?
Speaking of sense, the best way to draw a direct contrast between the tyrannical Cuomo/Hochul regime and the coming Zeldin administration would be for Mr. Zeldin to announce that as his first act of governor he will reimburse all business owners, particularly restaurateurs, targeted by the state’s liquor authority for $1,500 mask fines during the pandemic. This was at a time when restaurants were only allowed to operate at 50% capacity and were struggling to stay afloat.
The perception of this compassionate act alone by Mr. Zeldin could easily turn this 3-to-1 Democratic state voting advantage into a level playing field, as all New Yorkers surely recognized the fines constituted blatant overreach and abuse of government authority.
EUGENE R. DUNN
Medford, New York
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