Biden support slips in deep blue New York: ‘We’re a battleground state now’
Politico ^ | 7/10/24 | Nick Reisman
Posted on 7/10/2024, 11:36:57 AM by Libloather
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden has a new problem: a competitive race in deep blue New York.
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’re so worried they’ve 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.
Biden aides have not focused on New York, committing no significant resources to a state where they expect the president to easily win all 28 electoral college votes in November.
But the warning signs are impossible to ignore and have been building over the past year. Two private polls conducted in a swing New York House district and reviewed by POLITICO — one in September and another in March — found former President Donald Trump leading Biden there by 1 point, a virtual tie. And public polls over the last four months found Biden’s lead had winnowed to just 8 points across New York — an unusually narrow gap in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1.
“We’re still acting like this is a one-party state, which for pretty much 20, 25 years it has been,” Democratic Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said. “I truly believe we’re a battleground state now.”
Biden, whose campaign is in free fall after a shambling debate performance last month, is yet to pay much attention to the state beyond high-dollar fundraisers. He was most recently in New York on June 29 to raise money in the Hamptons and attend a dedication ceremony for the Stonewall Inn Visitor Center in Manhattan a day earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
