Poll Calls Race a ‘Dead Heat’

Congressman Tim Bishop and State Senator Lee Zeldin, who is challenging Mr. Bishop to represent New York’s First Congressional District, are in a dead heat, according to a poll released this week by a conservative group that is backing Republican candidates.

The poll surveyed 400 likely voters from Sept. 23 to the 25th, 34 percent of whom identified themselves as Republicans and 31 percent Democrats, according to Public Opinion Strategies. The firm conducted the poll for American Action Network, which is spending $1.2 million on Mr. Zeldin’s campaign.

Of 15 U.S. Senators and 76 members of Congress listed as clients on the Public Opinion Strategies website, all are Republicans.

Both campaigns are blanketing media with advertising, much of it negative. American Action Network has spotlighted Mr. Bishop’s support for the Affordable Care Act and highlighted an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into allegations that the Congressman broke the law in 2012 by soliciting a campaign donation from a constituent after helping him get a fireworks permit for his son’s bar mitzvah. Last month, the Justice Department closed its investigation without filing charges, but the ethics committee is still reviewing the allegations.

Mr. Bishop’s campaign has sought to portray Mr. Zeldin as an extremist out of step with the mainstream. The campaign has recently accused Mr. Zeldin of seeking to make abortion illegal and highlighted his opposition to same-sex marriage. In 2011, Mr. Zeldin voted against the Marriage Equality Act in the State Senate. The Senate voted 33-29 in favor of it.

Mr. Bishop’s campaign has also emphasized his efforts to keep jobs in the district. In Mastic Beach yesterday, the Congressman and labor groups presented $10,000 to the Suffolk County American Legion to fund a post-traumatic stress disorder training program.