By Jacob Kaye, Ryan Schwach and Noah Powelson

Rain trickled in throughout Tuesday in Queens, potentially dampening some voters’ enthusiasm for a slew of contested races in the World’s Borough.

Poll workers and campaign volunteers greatly outnumbered voters at many poll sites across Queens at the start of election day, which came after an early voting period that similarly saw a drop in the number of votes cast compared to last year, when Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for mayor inspired tens of thousands of New Yorkers, many of them on the younger side, to show up to vote for the first time.

Turnout totals appeared to shift back to historical norms on Tuesday, with no major city or statewide primary drawing voters from all corners of the five boroughs.

By 3 p.m., around 63,000 voters in Queens had cast ballots – around 33,000 of those ballots were cast during the city’s nine-day early voting period. Last year, as a crowded Democratic mayoral primary led by Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo dominated headlines, nearly 228,000 voters in Queens cast ballots by the close of election day.

But Tuesday’s numbers far surpassed voter turnout in 2024, when fewer than half as many Queens residents voted early.

While turnout didn’t come anywhere near 2025’s totals, many who trekked to the polls on Tuesday in Queens said the energy generated by Mamdani’s historic mayoral campaign last year remained a powerful influence.

In New York’s 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Maspeth, Ridgewood, Woodhaven and North Brooklyn, nearly all voters who spoke with the Eagle said they were backing Claire Valdez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America endorsed by Mamdani, in her race against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Councilmember Julie Won and attorney Vichal Kumar.

Similarly, a large number of voters told the Eagle they had cast ballots for attorney David Orkin in his bid to unseat Assembly Jenifer Rajkumar in District 38, which includes parts of Ridgewood, Glendale, Woodhaven, Ozone Park, and Richmond Hill. While Mamdani didn’t formally endorse Orkin, the public defender was backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the city’s DSA chapter.

Voters also pointed to Mamdani’s endorsements in other closely watched Queens races, including the contest for Senate District 12 between Aber Kawas and Assemblymember Steven Raga, and the Assembly District 37 race between Samantha Kattan, Pia Rahman and Melissa Orlando.

Beyond Mamdani’s sphere, voters in Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, and parts of Astoria cast ballots in a heated race between State Senator Jessica Ramos, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, and Hiram Monserrate. González-Rojas decided to challenge Ramos for her seat after the incumbent, who ran a failed bid for the mayor’s office last year, endorsed Cuomo in the final days of the race. While González-Rojas was endorsed by nearly every progressive lawmaker in the city, Mamdani stayed out of the race.

Though the mayor’s influence appeared to draw a number of voters to the polls, whether it would result in victories for his preferred candidates had yet to be determined Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s a snapshot of poll sites in some of the most competitive districts in Queens on election day.

New York’s 7th Congressional District

The battle for New York’s 7th Congressional District – perhaps the most contentious and consequential race in Queens – was at the top of Western Queens voters’ minds on Tuesday.

Voters walking by poll sites often couldn’t make it to the end of the block without being handed literature by volunteers with all four candidates running the race – Claire Valdez, an assemblymember from Queens; Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president; Julie Won, a city councilmember from Queens; and Vichal Kumar, a civil defense attorney.

Alex Messersmith, a 29-year-old Sunnyside resident who cast his ballot at I.S. 125 Thom J. McCann in Woodside, said his door was knocked by each of the campaigns in the past several weeks.

While he said he felt most aligned with Valdez’s platform, it was Mamdani that ultimately pushed him toward the candidate.

“I voted for who he endorsed,” Messersmith said. “I think a lot of us that followed Mamdani’s campaign are going to take his endorsements pretty seriously.”

In Valdez’ native Ridgewood, voters seemed excited to vote for their assemblymember, who had been representing them since 2024.

“I really believe in what Claire Valdez stands for,” said Pete Rittweger, a member of the DSA.

Valdez was one of Mamdani’s earliest supporters last year and Mamdani returned the favor this year, pushing Valdez’s candidacy over Reynoso’s, spurning incumbent Representative Nydia Velázquez.

The race to replace the retiring Velázquez has largely come down to Valdez and Reynoso.

Reynoso, a former city councilmember, has been a progressive darling throughout his career. In addition to Velázquez, he received endorsements from Attorney General Letitia James, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, the Queens County Democratic Party, and the Working Families Party. As such, Valdez’s campaign has painted Reynoso as the institutional candidate, while Reynoso’s campaign has described Valdez as an outsider, unprepared to represent the district he grew up in.

Jen Greene said she thinks of herself as “too left” for the DSA, but came out to vote for Valdez.

“We are not for institution-backed people,” she said. “We need to switch it up.”

At least some voters in Queens on Tuesday cast their ballot in the race for Won, their local councilmember.