Rep. Lee Zeldin, now the GOP's candidate in November's election against Gov. Kathy Hochul, declared Tuesday that he is on a "rescue mission" to "save New York."

"This isn't just a red wave. This is a common-sense wave," he told the crowd during a rousing victory speech on Long Island. "It's a common sense wave that reaches out ... to all counties in all regions.

"We're reaching out for all of you to work with us to save New York," the lawmaker added. "This is a rescue mission to save our state, and losing is not an option."

Zeldin will in November's general election face Hochul, who is heavily favored to win in deep blue New York, which hasn't had a Republican governor since 2006.

Congressman Lee Zeldin launched his first salvo of his general election campaign at Gov. Hochul on Tuesday night, declaring that New Yorkers have hit a "breaking point" over taxes and crime.

"Why are New Yorkers hitting this breaking point," the Long Island GOP lawmaker asked rhetorically.

"They don’t feel safe. on our streets, and then on subways, in in their homes and in their places of employment," he continued. "They feel like life in New York is unaffordable, that their money will go further somewhere else that in order to live the American dream doesn’t align with what they always want."

He spoke just an hour after Hochul addressed her supporters at a rally in Manhattan, where she framed the fall race around recent Supreme Court rulings on gun control and abortion rights as well as Zeldin's past support of former President Trump, including his refusal to certify President Biden's 2020 election win.

Rep. Lee Zeldin Rep. Lee Zeldin, now the Republican gubernatorial nominee, blamed "self-described socialists" for New Yorkers feeling the state.

During a fiery election night speech, Zeldin declared that that leftist policies have led many Empire State residents to reach a "breaking point" at which they have decided to live elsewhere.

"Right now we’re seeing with this population loss, one party rule, super majorities in the Assembly and Senate outsize power of people who self described as socialists," he told the crowd in Long Island. "Why are New Yorkers hitting this breaking point? They don’t feel safe on our streets, and on subways, in their homes and in their places of employment."

"They feel like life in New York is unaffordable, that their money will go further somewhere else," the federal lawmaker added.

Congressman Lee Zeldin, the newly minted Republican gubernatorial hopeful, offered kind words for his now former rivals in the GOP's hotly contested primary to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in November.

"Andrew has a bright future in New York state politics," Zeldin told the crowd at his rally on Long Island of Giuliani, his closest challenger and son of the former mayor, Rudy Giuliani.

Zeldin also thanked former Westchester County executive Rob Astorino.

The congressman added that he had not received a concession call from Harry Wilson, with whom he had tense exchanges during the debates, but thanked him as well.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, now the Republican gubernatorial nominee, pledged Tuesday to "fire Kathy Hochul" in November's general election.

"Are we ready to fire Kathy Hochul?' he said during his victory speech, to raucous applause from the crowd. "This November, in the State of New York, the one-part rule will end. Kathy Hochul will get fired."

"For us, we believe that public service is about serving the public," the long Island lawmaker added. "Kathy Hochul has been acting as if the public has been there to serve her."

Hochul won the Democratic primary Tuesday, so she will face off against Zeldin in November's general election.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is redirecting her fire at Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin after both pols clinched their party nominations Tuesday night.

"We will be able to demonstrate a strong contrast between New York values and what Lee Zeldin has done in Congress, whether it's his support for the insurrectionists, whether it's his [approach] to women's rights, whether it's his support for more guns than less guns," she told reporters after declaring victory in the Democratic primary Tuesday night.

The Long Island Republican clinched a win of his own just minutes before, setting the stage for a general election campaign that Republicans hope will bring their first statewide victory in two decades.

Hochul vowed to attract support from progressives who backed primary rival Jumaane Williams to help Dems keep all five statewide positions as well as several swing districts in Congress despite political headwinds favoring the GOP.

"I'm going to bring everybody together for November ... the voters have spoken and now it's time to bring this party together," she said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul took some veiled swipes Tuesday night at vanquished primary rival Rep. Tom Suozzi, who lost to her by more than 40 points.

First, she did not mention him in her victory speech while heaping praise on fellow rival Jumaane Williams.

She later told reporters how she was looking forward to working with Williams to help turbocharged Democrats' hopes for victories up and down the ballot this November.

But she did not say the same about the Long Island congressman – who criticized her record on public safety incessantly on the campaign trail – who will be out of the job starting next year.

"He called to congratulate me," Hochul said of Suozzi before adding "He won't be in office, especially now."

Andrew Giuliani conceded the GOP gubernatorial primary race to winner Rep. Lee Zeldin around 10:40 pm.

Speaking to supporters at the Women’s National Republican Club in Manhattan he said: “I would like to urge everyone in this room to get behind the next governor of New York, Lee Zeldin.”

He thanked Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and his dad Rudy Giuliani.

Some Giuliani supporters in the back yelled, “F--k Lee Zeldin” and others said of the race, “It was stolen!”

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared victory as she cruised to an easy win in the Democratic primary on Tuesday night, turning away challenges from her left and right flank.

"We're just getting started," she told a crowd of supporters at a victory event in Manhattan. "Are we going to move New York forward, or are we going to let the far-right extremists drag our state backward?"

"There's only one party that can take us forward and that's the Democratic Party," she added.

The incumbent governor — running for her first full term in the executive mansion in Albany — repeatedly referenced the string of recent controversial Supreme Court decisions on guns and abortion rights in her short victory speech.

And she lambasted her likely Republican opponent, Congressman Lee Zeldin, as a "Trump cheerleader."

"Our rights are at stake," she added as she addressed the crowd. "What are we going to do about it? We're going to fight back."

Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin clinched the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday night, winning the party primary against former White House staffer Andrew Giuliani, businessman Harry Wilson and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

Zeldin held a 42.4% to 24.1% lead over Giuliani with 48% of the vote tallied, with many more Long Island votes still to be counted. Astorino was in third at 19% and Wilson at 14.5%.

The four-term rep entered the race last April before any of his rivals, which helped him build big advantages with fundraising and endorsements by party officials.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado blasted the recent Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v Wade while celebrating his victory Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for LG.

“This is the fight of our lives. It’s a generational fight," he said at a joint event with his running mate, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who handily won her own primary.

Recent decisions by the Supreme Court on abortion and concealed weapons have given Democrats a new line of attack against Republicans, who are hoping to win their first statewide election in two decades.

Delgado suggested Tuesday night that Dems had to "hold the line" against a political rightwing that aims to take rights away from women, LGBTQ people and others.

A victory by the joint ticket by Hochul and Delgado this November, however, would help New York weather the ongoing political storm, according to Delgado.

"Our democracy depends on it," he said.

Assembly Education Chair Michael Benedetto appears to have beaten back a challenge from democratic socialist Jonathan Soto, a former staffer to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The veteran lawmaker was leading Soto 56.17% to 33.9% with 84 out of 84 election districts reporting, according to the state BOE. A third candidate, Algernon Quattlebaum, had 7.51% of the vote.

Benedetto had nearly run out of campaign cash just weeks ago before the Democratic Party establishment and organized labor gave tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in the home stretch of the campaign.