What on earth is NY State GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin thinking with his latest Mike Pence endorsement?

Zeldin, a four-term lawmaker who represents New York’s 1st Congressional District, which covers the eastern half of Long Island, was formally endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence.

I get it, Donald Trump has remained neutral in NY, but Pence? Here’s why this could go either way for the NY GOP front-runner.

First of all, Zeldin’s already up 6.5 points over Andrew Giuliani for NY Governor and continues to gain each day of polling according to a recent Forbes poll.

The Long Island Congressman leads Guiliani 34.5% to 28%, with Rob Astorino, former Westchester County Executive and 2014 GOP candidate for governor, at 16%, followed closely by investor Harry Wilson with 14% and those who aren’t sure at 8%.

Zeldin’s already got this primary race in the bag. Practically every Republican county has endorsed him for NY’s next governor, and as far as I’m concerned it’s a done deal – or perhaps now WAS a done deal after the dangerous Mike Pence endorsement.

Here’s why this concerns me – The only demographic that I believe Zeldin desperately needs on board to clinch the gubernatorial primary, that I feel he does not have 100% on his side yet, are the ‘Trumpers’.

Trump, for no fault of his own, has split the GOP down the middle, and one can even argue that he’s further split the Conservatives. The ‘Trumpers’, however, make up a large percentage of the Republican Party, and according to previous GOP primary races, Trump’s blessing is almost an automatic win for your primary.

It doesn’t appear that any GOP gubernatorial candidate is going to be blessed with Trump’s endorsement, but to throw Mike Pence in the ring who many conservatives and Trumpers are still bitter towards over the 2020 elections is not going to do Zeldin any favors with the demographic.

Zeldin, a huge Trump ally himself, who supported the former President during his administration, wasn’t able to garner the endorsement I’m sure he desperately wanted. Perhaps Zeldin’s campaign grew increasingly concerned over the fact that Trump wasn’t going to help Lee cross the finish line and scrambled for what they believed to be their next best option, Pence, in order to drum up support and seal the deal with a more moderate base. Probably not a bad move seeing that Zeldin’s running in a state where if you’re not a hard-core conservative Trumper, you’re a democrat regardless of your official party affiliation.

It seems that most Trumpers have flocked to the Giuliani camp, and for obvious reasons. Andy’s father, former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was and continues to play a supporting role for Donald Trump and his bid to challenge the 2020 elections.

Rudy is Trump’s most loyal supporter. Conservatives trust the former Mayor, and they are likely to reward his son with their vote come election day. There are no two ways about it, Rudy has certainly helped prop up his son Andy throughout the primary race.

With less than 24 hours to go, in one of the most highly contested gubernatorial primary races in the country, desperate measures call for desperate times. It appears the Zeldin camp may have just hit the panic button to either save themselves or put the nail in the coffin.

Both the New York State Conservative Party and the state GOP have officially endorsed Zeldin. He also enjoys the backing of Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a leading lawmaker in the House GOP conference, and Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, who represents the New York City borough of Staten Island. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has helped raise money for Zeldin.

I’m sure Team Zeldin knows what they’re doing, but it’ll certainly be interesting to see how the Pence endorsement plays out and if it was in fact that right call.

The winner of the GOP primary will likely face off against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. She is the clear polling and fundraising front-runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in a race that also includes Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams.

Patriot One News will be sure to report all the winners as they are projected Tuesday night in NY State.