To the dismay of many New York conservatives, incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican challenger Lee Zeldin in the midterm contest. But underneath the disappointing loss is a gubernatorial comeback story and a spate of down-ballot GOP candidates who made a bigger red splash in the Empire State than many other candidates were able to pull off around the country.
With 94 percent of the vote tallied, Zeldin trails Hochul by a little over 300,000 votes or 5.6 percentage points. And while this might seem like a lot, especially compared to swing states, in the 2018 New York gubernatorial
