Raga Justin is reporting for the Times Union that Gov. Kathy Hochul now has a five-point lead over the Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin, in the upcoming statewide general election, according to a new poll of likely voters. Hochul is the incumbent governor, having succeeded Andrew Cuomo following his resignation. Zeldin represents New York's 1st district in the U.S. Congress. He is a staunch ally of former Pres. Donald Trump, and voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. Recent polling from the Trafalgar Group found that 47.8 percent were in favor of Hochul, while 43.4 percent of voters said they were likely to vote for Zeldin. An early August poll from Siena College gave Hochul at a 14-point advantage over Zeldin. More than half of the voters polled by Trafalgar identified as Democrat, while Republicans made up 27.5 percent and unidentified voters another 19 percent. A clear majority of voters surveyed were white, or 65 percent of respondents; black voters made up 14.9 percent of those surveyed. In the Trafalgar poll, more than half of respondents were women, with men representing 45.7 percent. The Trafalgar Group polled 1,091 respondents from August 31 to September 1. Zeldin raised $1.5 million for his campaign Sept. 4 with former President Donald Trump at a fundraiser in New Jersey. Trump talked about himself when praising Zeldin. Trump said Zeldin helped him survive “impeachment hoax number one and impeachment hoax number two and a lot of scams.... I had these maniacs against me. He was one of those great voices,” Trump said on Sept. 4. Read the full story in the Times Union.