Thousands of New Yorkers across the five boroughs were at the polls on Saturday and Sunday, as early voting concluded its final weekend before the NYC Democratic primary on June 23.
This year, the primary includes races for city, state and federal offices. It has drawn significant attention as candidates continue to make their final push to reach undecided voters and encourage voter turnout.
One of the most closely watched races this year has been the Congressional NY-10 race in Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, where former city Comptroller Brad Lander is challenging incumbent Dan Goldman for the U.S. Representative seat. With Gov. Kathy Hochul backing Goldman and Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsing Lander, the race is down to the wire as early voting wrapped up on Sunday.
Recent polls have found Lander with a significant lead. However, the race is far from over.
Also making headlines this year has been the race for the Congressional NY-13 in Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, pitting incumbent Adriano Espaillat against Democratic socialist challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier, a PhD student at the City University of New York and political organizer.
During a recent public debate on Spectrum NY1 News, both candidates sparred over key issues, including Super PAC donations, immigration and housing. Espaillat zeroed in on Avila Chevalier’s social media posts from 2020 to 2022 in which she criticized former Vice President Kamala Harris, the police and the U.S. military.
New Yorkers are also closely watching the state’s 7th Congressional District race, covering parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Here, NYS Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who is also a Democratic socialist, is running to replace incumbent Nydia Velázquez, who is set to step down when her current term concludes. Valdez is running against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
More than 136,867 votes have been cast in NYC as of June 20 during early voting, according to the NYC Board of Elections. Throughout early voting, which ran June 13 to 21, 55,221 votes were cast in Manhattan; 12,034 in the Bronx, 40,938 in Brooklyn, 26,015 in Queens; and 2,659 in Staten Island at press time.
Meanwhile, Mamdani voted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) on Saturday following events that were held in support of his “Our Team, Our Year” slate of endorsements, including those for Valdez, Lander and Avila Chevalier.
More information about NYC’s primary election and who is running is available at Vote.nyc.
