Another Brutal Week for Lee Zeldin

The Republican Nominee Faces an Ongoing Fraudulent Petition Scandal and Criticism Over Ties to Far-Right Extremism

NEW YORK – Lee Zeldin cannot seem to catch a break, wrapping up another brutal week of scandals and disastrous news coverage. Early in the week, it was revealed that Zeldin paid members of a far-right extremist group, the Long Island Loud Majority, to collect petition signatures for his electoral fraud scheme. On top of that, it was uncovered that the State Republican Party headquarters served as the final hub for putting together the fraudulent signatures, leaving Zeldin with a barrage of criticisms and unanswered questions.

To finish off the week, Zeldin showed his true colors by refusing to denounce fellow New York Republican Carl Paladino’s suggestion that Merrick Garland be “executed,” as well as announcing an upcoming fundraiser headlined by disgraced former president Donald Trump.

What People Are Saying About Zeldin’s Brutal Week:

• ABC News 10: “In a virtual press conference on Tuesday, New York Democratic Chairman, Jay Jacobs, as well as with three other state democratic lawmakers called for more answers after gubernatorial candidate, Lee Zeldin’s campaign submitted photocopied signatures in a filing for the Independence Party line. […] ‘What happened, of course, is they were copying pages of signatures and interspersing them throughout the entire multi-page, very heavy, thick amount of pages to try to fool those looking at them to give them the sense that they had met the requisite number of 45,000.’”

• Buffalo News: “State Democratic Chairman Jay S. Jacobs Thursday criticized Rep. Lee Zeldin, the GOP gubernatorial candidate, for ignoring the Wednesday revelation that [Republican congressional candidate Carl] Paladino suggested to a radio interviewer that Attorney General Merrick Garland ‘probably should be executed’ for authorizing the FBI search of former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida estate. […] His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

• CBS 6 Albany: “The Albany County District Attorney’s Office tells CBS 6 it is currently reviewing a request from a Democratic state senator to investigate the campaign of New York’s Republican candidate for Governor Lee Zeldin over accusations of signature fraud.”

• Finger Lakes 1: “Lee Zeldin’s photocopied petition signatures made a stop at the State Republican Party headquarters in Albany before being submitted to the Board of Elections, new reports show. The board invalidated Zeldin’s Independence Party petition, along with those of other statewide candidates, in early July. Over 11,000 signatures out of the 52,000 submitted were photocopies, an investigation revealed.”

• Newsday: “[…] reports have suggested that various people and groups were involved with the petition process. That includes Long Island Loud Majority, whose much-circulated May Facebook post indicated that the pro-Trump group was part of the operation: ‘We need people to get Petitions signed to get Lee on the Independent Line,’ the post said. Some four or five people from LILM did indeed pitch in, says group co-founder Kevin Smith, who in June was paid $600 by the Zeldin campaign for what is labeled as ‘Professional Services.’”

• Newsday: “‘I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude,’ said Sen. Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers), who is a member of the Senate Elections Committee. ‘There are crimes here.’ […] Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) cited a press report that said members of the Long Island Loud Majority helped compile signatures for Zeldin. The group is listed among ‘extreme anti-government groups’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Kaplan said Zeldin is ‘coddling these extremists,’ noting the Long Island Loud Majority has opposed rights for gay and trans people, among other issues.”

• New York Daily News: “Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to headline a fund-raiser next month with Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor of New York, the congressman’s campaign said Wednesday. The fund-raiser, set for Sept. 4 in Deal, N.J., represents a risky strategy for Zeldin, given Trump’s unpopularity in New York. […] Zeldin has served as a loyal ally of Trump, and voted to overturn the 2020 election won by President Biden.”

• Post-Journal: “Now, it appears, the Zeldin campaign is tarnishing its image by allegedly photocopying some 11,000 voter signatures in an attempt to revitalize the defunct Independence Party line on the ballot. […] Something illegal was done somewhere, then. And before voters give their support to Zeldin, his campaign needs to come clean.”

• Spectrum News: “Top state Democrats continue to call for Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ office to commence a criminal investigation into the photocopied, duplicated signatures filed to get Zeldin’s name on a third-party line for the November general election.”

• Times Union: “State Republican Party headquarters in Albany served as a final hub of a dubious petitioning effort that’s since sparked controversy and a Democrat-led call for a criminal investigation. […] The more than 900 photocopied pages were all placed within the final 10 of the 47 volumes submitted.”