Calls for Investigation Into Illegal Coordination Between Far-Right Outside Groups And Zeldin
New York, NY – Today, the Times Union reported the New York State Democratic Party filed a complaint against Lee Zeldin’s gubernatorial campaign calling for an investigation into possible coordination with far-right outside groups, which is a violation of New York campaign finance laws.
Based on an investigation first reported by the Times Union, the complaint alleges the Zeldin campaign coordinated with one or more independent expenditure committees based on “common leadership with knowing and intentional sharing of strategic consultants and information… leading to candidate Zeldin having personal knowledge of independent expenditure committee activities before they are publicly announced.”
The common consultant includes New York City Councilman and Zeldin campaign Campaign Co-Chair Joe Borelli, who is also the spokesperson for the Save Our State (“SOS-IEC”) political committee. The Save Our State PAC is funded primarily by billionaire conservative Ronald Lauder, who has injected millions of dollars into the committee to defeat Governor Hochul.
“Reports indicate that Lee Zeldin is potentially illegally coordinating with far-right outside groups that are spending millions to swing the race in his favor, and he must be investigated immediately,” said New York State Democratic Chairman Jay S. Jacobs. “On top of committing ballot fraud to get on a third party line, Zeldin is using outside groups to fund his campaign’s messaging, and we must reject this dangerous attempt at disenfranchising our elections.”
Times Union: New York Democratic chair’s elections complaint targets Zeldin