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Daily Point

Zeldin-Gershon race tightening

Rep. Lee Zeldin, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, is up by just 3 percent over Democratic challenger Perry Gershon, according to a new poll from Taking Action Suffolk County, a Democratic-supporting SuperPAC. The poll of likely voters, done after Labor Day, has Zeldin with 47 percent support in New York’s 1st Congressional District, and Gershon with 44. The margin of error is 4.9 percent.

In 2016, Zeldin, a Republican, defeated Democrat Anna Throne-Holst by more than 15 percent, and Trump won the district by a slightly smaller margin. The new poll, done with random phone calls and sampling weighted to similar nonpresidential years, finds Zeldin’s favorability at 45 percent, with 42 percent unfavorable. Fewer voters know Gershon, a businessman out of East Hampton; his favorable numbers were at 35 percent, with 25 percent unfavorable.

The poll, done by New York City’s Global Strategy Group, found Trump’s favorability in CD1 at 42 percent, with 52 percent unfavorable. Regarding preference for a Democrat, 49 percent said they wanted a Democrat to keep a check on Trump, while 40 percent wanted a Republican to help him.

The poll measured the electorate’s mood as well, with 56 percent of Democrats reporting that they were very excited about the election vs. only 36 percent of Republicans saying the same.

Gershon recently got a boost of support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which moved him into its Red to Blue program for competitive candidates, a sign that national Democrats are starting to believe Zeldin might be vulnerable. And on Thursday, the new activist group Swing Left announced that Gershon’s race will be on its target list, potentially bringing more money and volunteers to the race.

Mark Chiusano