Retired NYPD cop Alison Esposito has a real shot at winning a congressional seat for Republicans, unseating incumbent Democratic upstate Rep. Pat Ryan next year, internal poll claims of the Republican Party.
Esposito, who was Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin’s running mate as a lieutenant governor hopeful in 2022, announced her candidacy against the first-term incumbent in the Hudson Valley’s 18th Congressional District last month.
Before Esposito’s entry into the congressional race, a poll by the Congressional Leadership Fund (the super PAC backing the House Republican majority) found that a Republican candidate would tie with Ryan 43-43. % and 43%, and the remaining 13% would be undecided.
Forty-two percent of registered voters said it’s time to elect someone new, while 36 percent supported Ryan’s re-election, and the rest are undecided, according to the poll.
“New polling data demonstrate that the GOP-friendly political environment and vulnerabilities in Pat Ryan’s standing with voters show a clear path to victory by 2024,” said CLC Vice President Brock McCleary and the research coordinator Jack Coogan in an Aug. 7 memo about the survey. recommendations.
“Voters are unimpressed with Pat Ryan and are ready for an alternative,” the memo said.
Alison Esposito announced her candidacy against the first-term incumbent in the 18th Congressional District in the Hudson Valley last month.Paul Martinka
The poll suggests that President Biden, who will lead the Democratic Party’s national vote, is unpopular in the 18th Congressional District, which includes Orange County and much of Dutchess and Ulster counties.
Only 43% of voters approve of Biden’s performance as president, while 52% disapprove, including one in five Democrats, according to the poll.
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New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, is also unpopular in the district, with only 41% of voters viewing her favorably, according to the poll.
The Congressional Leadership Fund poll in the 18th District was conducted August 1-3 with 400 likely general election voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.89 percentage points.
The most powerful Republican in the New York House, upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, is putting her influence behind Esposito’s attempt to unseat Ryan by establishing a joint fundraising committee, in addition to being Esposito’s first major sponsor.
“As a former NYPD officer for nearly twenty-five years, Alison Esposito is the kind of person who runs toward disaster to save others, not away from it,” Stefanik told The Post. “We need more of those leaders in Washington. Alison is the only candidate in this race with a strong record of putting the safety of New Yorkers first.
“She has what it takes to defeat the failed far-left Democrat Pat Ryan,” the politician added. “I have every confidence that Alison will bring her servant’s heart to Congress to prioritize the needs of working families in the Hudson Valley.
“I am proud to fully endorse Alison and give her the first E-PAC endorsement in the 2024 cycle,” Stefanik said, referring to her own political action committee.
Esposito said she was pleased that Stefanik and the House GOP were making her race a top priority.
Forty-two percent of registered voters said it’s time to elect someone new, while 36 percent supported Ryan’s re-election, and the rest are undecided, according to the poll.
“[Stefanik] “She has been a strong leader for New York and Republicans in Congress, and I look forward to working with her to increase our majority in the House and bring common sense American values back to the Hudson Valley,” the candidate said in a statement. . “Join Speaker Stefanik in bringing our wave of common sense to New York’s 18th Congressional District.”
Ryan, a former Ulster County executive and Army veteran who served in Iraq, won the House seat by fewer than 4,000 votes against former Republican Assemblyman Colin Schmitt in 2022.
He made abortion rights a major issue during his successful candidacy, winning a special election for the first time in the summer of 2022.
He won while other Democrats were defeated in contested races in blue-leaning New York, including neighboring House Campaign Committee Chairman and former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who lost to Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in his first term. .
Republicans gaining seats in New York helped the GOP regain the majority in the House.
“New Yorkers are fed up with Pat Ryan and the Democrats’ disastrous one-party rule that has left families dealing with record crime and an out-of-control immigration crisis,” said CLF communications director Courtney Parella. “Alison Esposito knows exactly what it takes to protect New York communities and keep families safe, and she will bring that experience to Washington.”
A Ryan campaign spokesperson told the Post of the Republican poll results: “We have enough far-right extremists in Congress; What we need are patriots who rise above partisanship to help Hudson Valley families.
“Hopefully the next MAGA poll [House Speaker] Mike Johnson’s Super PAC is actually asking voters if they will support New York City transplant Alison Esposito, who called gun violence “a distraction,” wants a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, and supports the traitorous insurrectionists who tried to overthrow our democracy. “said the representative in a statement.
In a sign of a competitive race, Esposito’s campaign said Ryan’s camp had mischaracterized his position on abortion.
“Pat Ryan knows he’s in trouble, which is why he resorted to lying when he claims that Alison has called for a federal ban on abortion. Alison has never advocated for a federal abortion ban. “She has always been an advocate for providing more resources and options for women,” said a representative for Esposito’s campaign.
“Like most Americans, she believes in reasonable exceptions.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn