In a short concession speech, Mr. Giuliani struck a conciliatory tone and asked his supporters to support Mr. Zeldin. “This is a movement that has only just begun,” he said.
For his part, Mr. Zeldin had also been closely associated with Mr. Trump’s policies when he was president, even going so far as to vote to undo the results of the 2020 election in key swing states. As a candidate for governor, Mr. Zeldin has moderated those conservative views somewhat — expressing skepticism about the abortion ban in New York, for example, and only moderately supporting the idea of another Trump candidacy — but still managed. in appealing to the die-hard Republican voters who usually vote in primaries.
The resulting general election campaign will still be an uphill climb for Mr. Zeldin, as New York’s registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than two to one. (Purely in statistical terms, Republicans are a third party in New York, as they are also outnumbered by unaffiliated voters.) To win in November, Mr. Zeldin will not only need to bolster his base, but moderate voters as well. to attract. who may be dissatisfied with Democrats, including President Biden and Ms. Hochul.
No Republican has been elected governor in the state since George Pataki defeated Carl McCall, a Democrat, and a third-billionaire candidate, Tom Golisano, in 2002. The three most recent games were easily won by Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who served until his resignation last August.
Mr. Zeldin, who is married with a twin daughter, has represented eastern Long Island since 2015, a mix of suburban and more rural areas that could be crucial in a general election. In 2021, for example, Democrat-backed changes to bail laws were major problems for Republicans on Long Island, leading to a wave of election wins in Nassau County, bordering Mr. Zeldin’s district.
Tuesday’s results showed that Mr. Zeldin was doing very well in Long Island, as well as in central and western New York, which could be a battleground in a general election in which neither he nor Ms. Hochul are from New York City.
