After another day of high turnout for early voting in New York City, one voting bloc appears to have out-performed others — and has one campaign urging supporters to cast their ballots.
After a dip in voters on Monday, 74,000 people participated in early voting on Tuesday, according to the NYC Board of Elections. That is up about 14,000 from the day before and closer to Sunday’s total (79,000). The highest day of participation is still Saturday, the first day of early voting, when approximately 84,000 ballots were cast.
Nearly 300,000 people have voted in the general election thus far. The pacing for turnout remains much higher than it was in the 2021 mayoral election.
Brooklyn has seen the highest turnout in the five boroughs, with just over 92,000 ballots cast there. That narrowly edged out Manhattan, which topped 89,000. Queens had nearly 69,000 votes cast, the Bronx had almost 25,000 votes cast, and Staten Island had 22,400, the BOE said.
Officials and candidates alike have noted the high turnout as the early voting period was nearly half completed.
The high turnout comes amid a hotly contested three-way race for mayor between Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. Each of the candidates have talked about a sense of urgency to get their supporters to the polls, especially as one voting bloc appears to be turning out in higher numbers than others — which could tip the scales in a candidate’s favor.
The biggest bloc of voters has been those between the ages of 55-82, officials said. Something that frontrunner Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, and his campaign were aware of.
On Monday, his team sent out an email blast earlier in the day stressing that the “highest number of early voters so far are in age brackets where Cuomo either ties or leads.”
A day later, Mamdani said “we are right where we want to be. We are on the precipice of winning the election.”
Cuomo, running as an independent, stressed they “need New Yorkers to turn out.” A new poll showed the race continuing to tighten, with Cuomo seemingly cutting into Mamdani’s lead: Mamdani had 44% of the vote, while Cuomo had 34% and Sliwa, the Republican, had 11%.
The former New York governor said Tuesday that his message was resonating with voters.
“You can’t be a divisive leader in this city. You have to be a uniter,” Cuomo said, accusing Mamdani of dividing the city.
Cuomo on Tuesday won the backing of another former governor, David Paterson. That came after Mayor Eric Adams endorsed Cuomo as well; the three were out on the campaign trail in the Bronx on Tuesday.
Sliwa did not seem terribly jealous or forlorn over not getting Paterson’s endorsement. If anything, it appeared to be the opposite.
“David Paterson do me a favor: You are the political kiss of death. Do not endorse me,” said Sliwa. “I would throw that endorsement right back at you.”
Early voting will continue in New York City each day through Sunday, Nov. 2. Opening and closing times vary by day.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, when polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.