Former President Donald Trump’s plan to expand the universe of swing states is paying off, with left-wing panic sinking in over New York’s increasingly competitive status. Elected officials, union leaders, and political consultants are panicking over polls showing a steady erosion of Biden’s support in a state he won by 23 points four years ago. They are so worried they have been trying to convince the Biden team to pour resources into New York to shore up his campaign and boost Democrats running in a half-dozen swing districts that could determine control of the House.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine (D) has warned that the state, which voted Democrat in each of the last nine presidential elections, is now in “battleground” status. He told Politico, “We’re still acting like this is a one-party state, which for pretty much 20, 25 years it has been. I truly believe we’re a battleground state now.
In the most recent Siena College poll conducted from June 12-17, 2024, Trump was just eight points behind Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head race, at 39 percent and 47 percent, respectively. The earlier Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll of 1,000 registered voters from May 28-29, 2024, showed Trump six points behind Biden in a five-way race and ten points behind him in a two-man race.
The current poll margins are more representative of the 2022 gubernatorial race between former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) — which was decided by 6.4 points — than they are of the 2020 or 2016 presidential elections.
Concerns are also bubbling around congressional races in New York, with one influential New York Democrat anonymously telling Politico that Biden is imperiling down-ballot candidates. It’s never been more important for a Democratic House member to focus on building their own local brand and to run on that,” the person said. Biden isn’t going to be handing out coattails no matter what. He’s only got anchors.
Trump first told Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow and Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle in December that he sought to broaden the map of states in play for Republicans in the 2024 cycle to include usually blue states, such as New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Virginia, and Minnesota. He seems to be making good on that promise, with narrow leads or small deficits in recent polls from these states.