New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin is creeping up in the polls. The super-liberal and anti-gun New York appears to be at least considering a Republican for governor, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has got to be concerned.

Crime is one of the issues leading many to look at Zeldin seriously, and Hochul isn’t doing herself any favors by arguing that the crime problem is really just a GOP hoax.

Of course, one must wonder if the shooting that took place practically on Zeldin’s doorstep was also part of this alleged hoax. If so, the cops must be in on it, too, because they’ve found the weapon used in the shooting.

Suffolk County Police have recovered a gun used in the Oct. 9 shooting at Rep. Lee Zeldin’s Shirley home, and made an unrelated (for now) arrest as well.

Noah Green was arraigned and ordered held on $750,000 cash bail or $7.5 million partially secured bond, the Suffolk County DA’s office said Tuesday. He faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.

Prosecutors say law enforcement was conducting surveillance Monday when they observed Green get into a stolen car. When cops tried to engage Green, the DA’s office said, he tried to flee and then reached into his pants pocket. Police stopped him and recovered a loaded 9mm pistol.

Authorities have now matched that pistol to the Oct. 9 shooting, matched Green’s fingerprints to prints on the gun’s loaded magazine, and say the stolen car he was caught in Monday appears to match a car involved in the earlier incident.

“The defendant’s involvement in the October 9, 2022 shooting is still under active investigation,” prosecutors said in court filings.

Now, as I noted when this first happened, one has to assume that Zeldin doesn’t exactly live in the ‘hood. It’s likely that any gubernatorial candidate is going to live in a pretty safe neighborhood, all things considered, and for this to happen actually suggests that crime isn’t just staying in the usual neighborhoods.

And Hochul thinks this is really just spin from Republicans?

The crime issue is real and it’s impacting a lot of people who normally wouldn’t be impacted. Let’s remember that Zeldin’s daughters were at home when this shooting happened. They could have easily been injured or killed by a stray bullet, as allegedly happened to the rapper Takeoff in Houston. Zeldin’s take on crime likely rings more true to many voters these days, in part because of that.

Let’s remember that New York City still has a lot of gun control on the books. None of that stopped that shooting from taking place.

Instead, we have a man who has been found with the weapon used in that shooting who also happened to be in a stolen car associated with that same shooting. It’s likely only a matter of time before the individual in question is charged with that shooting.

The truth is, crime has gotten bad. Very bad. It’s not going away with politicians’ platitudes and claims that the issue is just some kind of a hoax. It’s very real and Democrats like Hochul aren’t doing anything about it beyond demonizing law-abiding gun owners.