Hochul blasted Zeldin’s past support for abortion limits and for former President Trump; Zeldin vowed to repeal criminal justice reforms and criticized Hochul's push to send millions to abortion providers ahead of a predicted out-of-state patient surge
"This is our opportunity. Two weeks from tonight, we can continue with the status quo, where they believe they haven't passed enough pro-criminal laws," Zeldin said."Or we can take control of our destiny and make sure law-abiding New Yorkers are in charge of our streets again."
“You’re poorer and less safe because of Kathy Hochul and extreme policies,” Zeldin said, not wasting a minute during his only chance to confront Hochul, adding: “You deserve better." "First of all, you can either work on keeping people scared, or you can work on keeping them safe...I did focus on bail reform in our budget. That's why the budget was nine days late, because I insisted on common sense changes," Hochul said.
Hochul has noted that other cities and states without similar cash bail laws have seen spikes of crime since 2020. The governor also took aim at Zeldin's refusal to support gun control measures in Congress.