NY DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTIONS
New Yorkers are set to vote on a bunch of hard-fought congressional and state primaries tomorrow - if they haven't already mailed in their absentee ballot or voted early at the poll sites.
Democrats will also be voting for their preferred presidential candidate, although Joe Biden has already wrapped up enough delegates to win the nomination to face off against President Trump in November.
New York’s primary elections are tomorrow, on Tuesday. It's not just about Joe Biden, or any other Presidential candidate that is still on the ballot, NYC Democrats cast their ballots in the local Democratic primary races that decide who represents them in congress, state and city government.
The primary election, slated for June 23, is open to registered Democratic voters who mailed in their ballot, which must be postmarked by the date of the election on 6/23 or head to the polls.
Click here to find your poll site on Primary Day.
Who's Running:
Congressional Races
New York Congressional District 7
Incumbent Nydia Velazquez faces a challenge from Paperboy Prince.
New York Congressional District 10
Incumbent Jerry Nadler, who has served in Congress since 1992, faces challenges from former Cuomo special advisor Lindsey Boylan and Jonathan Herzog, a founding member of presidential candidate Andrew Yang's campaign.
New York Congressional District 13
Incumbent Adriano Espaillat faces off against challengers Ramon Rodriguez and James Felton Keith.
New York Congressional District 12
Incumbent Carolyn Maloney, who has served in the House of Representatives since 1992, will face off against former Obama Administration staffer Suraj Patel, data analyst Lauren Ashcraft and CUNY professor Peter Harrison.
More About NY Congressional District 12
Manhattanites, more than others, fled New York City when the coronavirus pandemic erupted here, according to New York Times data reporting. Now, it’s unclear how that exodus might affect voting behavior in party primary elections happening this month, like in New York’s 12th Congressional District, where much of incumbent Representative Carolyn Maloney’s support has historically been in parts of Manhattan home to many of this year’s departures.
In Maloney’s last Democratic primary, in 2018, Suraj Patel was her only opponent for the tri-borough seat made up of parts of the East Side of Manhattan, north Brooklyn, and western Queens, and he won a somewhat surprising portion of the vote — 41.2%, compared to Maloney’s 58.8%.
Maloney dominated the race in Manhattan. Patel won some areas of that borough, but performed far better in both Queens and Brooklyn, winning a majority of the votes cast in Brooklyn and losing Queens by less than 100 votes. Patel is running against Maloney again this year, and there are two more candidates bidding for the nomination, Lauren Ashcraft and Peter Harrison.
While having additional challengers likely works to Maloney’s favor, the equation is complicated by whether a significant number of her potential voters may be out of town and not voting, though all eligible voters can cast an absentee ballot this month due to a gubernatorial order based on the COVID-19 pandemic. That process is complicated, though, requiring voters to access then fill out first a ballot application then the ballot. In-person early voting is ongoing through June 21, and primary day is Tuesday, June 23.
With parts of Manhattan, including large swathes of the East Side, seeing significant drops in population, the possibility of Maloney, among other similarly-situated candidates, seeing a drop in base support is one of the outstanding questions as voting occurs. “With Maloney’s district, I think what makes it unique is she has a lot of her constituents who have left,” said Dr. Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University. “However, based on class and past voting records, they are probably more likely to go through the cumbersome process to get an absentee ballot. But for those who aren’t, they’re in Montauk and they’re not thinking about the election, she’s definitely lost some of her base.”
Primary Election Day: June 23, 2020
Mail in your absentee ballot by June 23
Click here for updates on Voting and Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Assembly Races
New York Assembly District 65
The lower Manhattan incumbent Yuh-Line Niou is running against local business woman Grace Lee.
New York Assembly District 68
The incumbent Robert Rodriguez is running against Tamika Mapp.
New York Assembly District 71
Incumbent Al Taylor is running against Guillermo Perez
New York Assembly District 73
Incumbent Dan Quart faces off against recent Yale graduate and LeFrak family descendant Cameron Koffman.
State Senate Races
New York State Senate District 27
Brad Hoylman faces off against Elizabeth Glass, a first-time challenger and teacher from the East Village.
New York State Senate District 31
Incumbent state Sen. Robert Jackson will compete against Tirso Santiago Pina, a challenger from Washington Heights who also ran against Jackson in 2018.
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More about District 12 Partially Reprinted with permission from Gotham Gazzette.
Written by Victor Porcelli, Gotham Gazette
