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In the midst of a crime wave engulfing New York City, New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin focused on bail reform in the state as he consistently attacked New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul for supporting it.
Early in the debate, Zeldin attacked Hochul’s erstwhile support for cashless bail, saying, “Kathy Hochul supports cashless bail; as soon as it got implemented she was out bragging about it. She chose the champion of the Defund the Police movement and the architect of cashless bail, Brian Benjamin — yeah, that guy who got arrested and had to resign — that was her first big decision to make as lieutenant governor. We need to repeal cashless bail. … We need to make our streets safe again. I’m running to take back our streets and to support unapologetically our men and women in law enforcement.”
New York passed a major bail reform law in 2019 which barred cash bail unless there were a serious misdemeanor or felony. Defendants could not be held by judges based on whether the judge thought the defendant was dangerous. That law was reformed after public outcry in both 2020 and 2022.
Hochul has stated, “We never said that the cause of crime in the state is because of bail reform.
