Zeldin features Estonian lighthouse in ad about Long Island

Rep. Lee Zeldin seemed to have a good time visiting the historic Montauk Lighthouse in his Long Island congressional district in 2016 – but he should have paid closer attention.

His latest campaign commercial features some beautiful footage of a lighthouse that vaguely resembles the Montauk icon, but is actually the Pakri Lighthouse, 4,000 miles away in Estonia.

Zeldin’s campaign has posted two versions of the ad online, a 30-second cut and a 15-second cut that has more than 2,500 views on Youtube.

Zeldin campaign spokesman Chris Boyle told City & State that the ad currently airing on TV has been fixed, and sent a version of the ad with the correct lighthouse. But as of Thursday afternoon, only the ad with the Estonian lighthouse was available on Zeldin’s Youtube page.

The ads are titled “Safeguarding our Environment.” As the camera pans around the lighthouse, a title on the screen reads “Lee Zeldin opposes all drilling off Long Island.” Though Zeldin has been a vocal opponent of drilling for oil in the area, he scored just 10 percent on the League of Conservation Voters’ National Environmental Scorecard. Among the issues on which Zeldin cast votes against the environmental community’s priorities were rolling back regulations on methane and ozone pollution, cutting funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and exempting cross-border gas and oil pipelines from environmental review. Boyle defended Zeldin’s environmental record, pointing to the increase in federal funding for wetlands and estuary protection and preservation in the Long Island Sound and the emergency dredging of the Moriches Inlet.

Zeldin, a Republican, has represented the first congressional district since 2014. He’s being challenged by Democrat Perry Gershon a newcomer to the district and former financier. Zeldin’s campaign has derided the former Manhattan resident Gershon as “Park Ave Perry” and accused Gershon, who opposes offshore drilling, of being a hypocrite for investing in offshore oil drilling in Louisiana. Gershon’s investment in question is between $250,000 and $500,000, according to financial disclosure forms, and Gershon campaign spokeswoman Ali Dakich told City & State that the investment is a municipal bond for a regulatory authority and not an investment in a for-profit company.

“The claim about Perry’s savings is as far from the truth as Estonia is from Montauk,” she said. “Lee should spend more time focusing on reality and his constituents.”

The Cook Political Report ranks the seat as “likely Republican,” but Gershon has gained support recently, being highlighted as a top tier race by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He also has the backing of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose political action committee donated to Gershon’s campaign.