Inside Zeldin's play

Daily Point

Eyes on Zeldin

Politically speaking, Lee Zeldin’s announcement this week that he’s "actively exploring" a 2022 run for governor came with a number of advantages.

It separated him a little from GOP Reps. Tom Reed and Elise Stefanik who have hinted at runs, even as Axios reported Wednesday that Reed had actually begun talking to potential staffers. For a little while, it gives Zeldin an open field as shadow opposition given that top Democrats would be unlikely to make an announcement before finding out the fate and plans of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The third-term governor, already under attack for his pandemic handling of nursing homes, apologized Wednesday afternoon following sexual harassment allegations from three women, and said that he won’t resign.

Zeldin’s announcement also could be a boon for fundraising, whether Zeldin ends up trying his record of Trump allyship in a statewide race. The fourth-term Shirley Republican has not opened a gubernatorial campaign committee and isn’t blasting out direct fundraising appeals on his social media, but he is directing followers to HoldCuomoAccountable.com. That site is a petition where the fine print says, "By adding your name, you become a member of Zeldin For Congress," opening you up to emails or text messages or both.

In his recent campaigns, Zeldin has raised millions with help from a national, Trump-supporting audience, and the boost of publicity and new followers from toying with an anti-Cuomo campaign could help the money flow.

Then there’s what to do with that money. Federal regulations allow the unlimited transfer of funds from candidates’ federal campaign accounts to their state or local ones, subject to state laws. In New York, there’s some murkiness about the issue.

"We have never issued an opinion on it," state Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin told The Point Wednesday. Candidates have eyed such a transfer in the past, including Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in his 2018 Democratic primary run for attorney general. Opponent Zephyr Teachout’s campaign sought to get a legal injunction preventing him from using hundreds of thousands of dollars from his big federal account. The Teachout legal bid failed, according to her former counsel.

Transferring could prove helpful for Zeldin, though in year-end filings Zeldin for Congress reported $166,236.25 cash on hand after an expensive 2020 race. Or all the attention could help fill his federal coffers as he waits for Republicans to take the majority in Congress again, often a possibility in midterm elections with opposite-party presidents.

—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Talking Point

Suozzi vs. Santos heads into round two

"The second time’s the charm."

That’s what George Santos told The Point about his plans to kick off his campaign to run for the 3rd Congressional District again.

Santos is holding his first big campaign event on March 23 at an undisclosed location in midtown Manhattan. Santos said the event emerged as an effort from the Log Cabin Republicans, a group representing gay Republicans and their allies.

"They took the initiative to kick it off. We were ready to do so but they wanted to do something for me before the end of the quarter to help out and get our committee going," said Santos, who lost to Rep. Thomas Suozzi by about 46,000 votes last year.

The event is limited to 25 people, and will require masks and social distancing, Santos told The Point. According to a flier posted to his Twitter feed, the fundraiser will be $100 per person, although members of the Log Cabin Republicans and Young Republicans would be charged only $50.

Santos, who just returned from the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Florida, said he is planning a campaign focused on the need for COVID-19 relief, and on the need for infrastructure improvements.

"There’s a more knowledgeable, more mature version of George Santos for 2022," Santos said. "I’m excited to hit the ground running."

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

King Cuomo

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Final Point

Water to your ears

The Suffolk County Water Authority has a podcast.

OK, you say, everyone these days has a podcast. But authority chief executive Jeff Szabo begs to differ: "I think we’re the first water provider in the nation to have a podcast about constantly tested, safe drinking water," Szabo told The Point. And he is in a position to know; Szabo is secretary of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, whose members are the largest publicly owned drinking water providers in the United States.

"What About Water?" clocks in at 16 minutes, 22 seconds, and includes information about the water cycle, Long Island’s three aquifers, the SCWA’s history, and a segment featuring people on the streets of Patchogue trying to answer the question: Where does your water come from?

Answers include: "I have no idea," "from the city," and "out of the tap." The correct response – the aquifer – comes from a familiar voice later revealed to be Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer Rob Calarco, who might have been stripped of his title if he had gotten it wrong.

Szabo, the narrator, said the podcast has been downloaded about 400 times since its debut in early February, exceeding his expectations. He said he has enough topics in mind to continue monthly episodes for at least a couple years.

Szabo said he’s wanted to do a podcast since 2014 as a way "to improve how we communicate with our customers and educate our customers."

Asked about an alternative theory that the podcast is a branding exercise, a way of expanding the water authority’s profile as it prepares for a possible expansion into Nassau County, Szabo said: "That didn’t cross my mind. Podcasts and media like that don’t know county lines and boundaries. But if we do a good job here, and we have a good reputation … if people look at us as a vehicle to improve their conditions, that doesn’t hurt anybody."

—Michael Dobie @mwdobie