According to New York City Board of Elections data, as of 3 p.m. Nov. 3, approximately 664,807 voters had checked in at more than 13,000 polling places across the five boroughs in the six hours since the polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday. That’s equal to 96.3% of the 690,526 New Yorkers who voted early between Oct. 24 and Nov. 1; the early voting turnout marked a 60% increase from the 2022 midterms, in which Democrat Kathy Hochul was elected to her first full term as governor.
Counting the early voting totals, the Board of Elections reports that more than 1.3 million New Yorkers have cast ballots in the 2026 election as of 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Hochul is at the top of the ballot again this time around, seeking a second term against Republican Bruce Blakeman. Running alongside Hochul for lieutenant governor is former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams of Queens; should Hochul and Adams prevail Tuesday, New York will have elected its first all-female ticket to the top of the executive branch in its long history.
Numerous statewide offices are also on the ballot. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is seeking another term in office; the Democrat is being challenged by Republican candidate Joseph Hernandez. Democratic State Attorney General Letitia James of Brooklyn, meanwhile, is looking to fend off a challenge from Republican nominee Saritha Komatireddy.
A poll worker at P.S. 87 on the Upper West Side during Election Day voting on Nov. 3, 2026.Photo by Dean Moses
Congressional races are making headlines around the country in this midterm election. Among the New York House members on the ballot Tuesday is U.S. Rep. and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn; should Democrats retake control of the House in Tuesday’s election, as many pundits expect, Jeffries will likely be favored to become the next Speaker of the House in January.
The ballot also includes five questions for New York City voters put forth by the Commission on Government Efficiency, which Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed this year in an effort to streamline city government and cut through red tape when it comes to land use and construction.
Throughout the day, amNewYork will be bringing you live coverage from polling places across the city, hearing from voters who cast their ballots. Tonight, we will also provide live coverage of the results as they come in for the key races impacting New York.
You can also read more about local turnout and election developments on our affiliates: QNS, Brooklyn Paper and Bronx Times.
Voters on Upper West Side and Upper East Side look to check Trump, balance power
A voter brings her completed ballot to a machine on Election Day at P.S. 87 on the Upper West Side, Nov. 3, 2026.Photo by Dean Moses
For some voters at P.S. 87 on the Upper West Side Election Day morning, their motivation came down to one thing: putting a check on the power of President Trump. That included Zachary, an Upper West Side resident who brought his two daughters with him as he filled in his ballot to show them the importance of voting.
“I’m voting as a dad of two girls, so public safety is very important to me,” Zachary said. “It’s also extremely important to put a check on Donald Trump.”
Another voter, who identified herself to amNewYork as Rosie, stressed her belief in the importance of voting.
“I think it’s always important to come out and vote. There to be able to vote for people that are going to be able to create policy that makes our lives better and share values that are important to me, and I think important to this country,” Rosie said. “I think that it’s important to be able to create laws or even block harmful laws, vote for people in the House, and I also think our local and state government having policies that I am excited about. I feel pretty good about this particular vote.”
Voters also streamed into and out of the Church of the Heavenly Rest on the Upper East Side Tuesday morning, casting their ballots in the back of the historic house of worship.Photo by Dean Moses
Voters also streamed into and out of the Church of the Heavenly Rest on the Upper East Side Tuesday morning, casting their ballots in the back of the historic house of worship.
One voter, who identified herself to amNewYork as Carmen, said public safety was on top of her mind as she cast her ballot, along with curbing the authority of whom she called “very extreme people on both sides.”
West Village voters eye direction of U.S., and local development
Voters cast their ballot at City-as-School High School in the West Village on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026.Photo by Ethan Stark-Miller
The feeling was mutual for voters in the West Village who gathered Tuesday morning at City-as-School High School to cast their ballots. Control of Congress, and the overall direction of the U.S., was top of mind for one voter who spoke with us.
“I’m really concerned with the direction of the country; the midterm election is really important, and the vote for our representatives in Congress is the most important one,” said one voter, Duane, 49. “Those are the guys that are deciding the laws, and they’re the ones that are allowing me to feel like I still have some semblance of control as to where this country is going. Yeah, I feel sort of helpless with what’s going on in the executive branch. Certainly, because I’m not a Trump supporter, and because of our current situation, but also, in general, our congressional representatives are the ones who make me feel like I still have a voice in the country I live in.”
But in addition to national politics, another voter said the COGE ballot questions were part of her motivation to cast her ballot Tuesday.
“I think particularly voting here, my interest is in Lower Manhattan, and it has been a place that has had public spaces kind of co-opted for a really long time, particularly by much larger entities like NYU and also by development associations,” a voter named Violet told amNewYork. “Making sure that the community still has a say in …. how we want our public spaces to be operated feels important. But also, I understand kind of what bureaucracy can do to the general flow of government, so I read those carefully. I did my research and made my choices based on all of that information.”
Plenty of voters turned out at the John Melser Christian School in the West Village on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026.Photo by Ethan Stark-Miller
Another West Village voter, who identified herself as Elizabeth, said she tried to straddle the middle of the ballot over concerns that, in her view, some in the Democratic Party were moving too far to the left.
“I’m a registered Democrat, but I don’t want to see the party going too far left either. So I kind of voted, tried to vote in the middle as best I could,” she said.
Voting lines were long at another West Village polling site, the John Melsner Christian School. Poll workers there beamed that each of their voting machines had processed and counted hundreds of ballots as of 11 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Nick DeSimone, 54, was one of the voters who cast his ballot there Tuesday. He expressed hope that Democrats would retake Congress and put a check on President Trump’s power.
“I’m just a broad stroke type of voter, where I, you know, I want the Democrats to sort of make Trump a lame duck,” he told amNewYork. “I think Hochul will win at the state level. I guess nationally, it seems like the Democrats have a very strong chance of taking the House and maybe the Senate. If you told me a couple of months ago that’s how it was going to go, I wouldn’t have believed it. But yeah, seems like things are going that way.”
Nick DeSimone, 54, was one of the West Village voters who cast his ballot on Election Day Tuesday. He expressed hope that Democrats would retake Congress and put a check on President Trump’s power.Photo by Ethan Stark-Miller
Another voter, Edward Heim, said he’s participated in every election faithfully for years, and was excited to vote for Hochul’s re-election. But he wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic for the Democratic nominee for the House seat in his district, Brad Lander.
“I’m happy to vote for Kathy Hochul. I think she’s terrific. I’m happy to vote against Brad Lander because I don’t think he’s terrific. So those are the two candidates that moved me,” Heim said.
Another West Village voter, Edward Heim, said he’s participated in every election faithfully for years, and was excited to vote for Hochul’s re-election. But he wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic for the Democratic nominee for the House seat in his district, Brad Lander.Photo by Ethan Stark-Miller
Brooklyn voters cite affordability, frustration with Washington
A voter mulls her Election Day ballot in Starrett City, Brooklyn, on Nov. 3, 2026.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Poll workers at P.S. 321 on Seventh Avenue and M.S. 51 on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, said they had seen a steady flow of voters, comparable to the turnout during early voting.
Adrian Williamson, who voted at M.S. 51, told Brooklyn Paper he viewed voting as an “anti-fascist action,” hoping to make room for more progressive voices within the Democratic Party and move the country closer to the political center.
“We’re so far right [right now],” Williamson said. “I’m just as far left as you can vote on everything. Just anything to get us anywhere near a healthy center.”
The election’s national stakes were also top of mind for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who cast his ballot at P.S. 321 in Park Slope and expressed optimism about Democrats’ chances of retaking the Senate.
The election’s national stakes were also top of mind for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who cast his ballot at P.S. 321 in Park Slope and expressed optimism about Democrats’ chances of retaking the Senate.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
He said that while it seemed almost impossible a year ago for Democrats to regain power, his party was now “nauseously optimistic” about retaking the Senate majority. He pointed to concerns about the high cost of living, gas prices, health care and corruption in the Trump administration.
“We have seen more corruption in this administration than any in American history, by a long shot,” Schumer said.
Hochul makes last-minute stump in Queens
Gov. Kathy Hochul shakes a voter’s hand in Sunnyside, Queens, on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026.Photo by Shane O’Brien
At the second of three stops in Queens Tuesday morning near a polling site at Flushing’s P.S. 22Q, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said she was “feeling good” about her chances in the borough, but added that she is taking nothing for granted.
Hochul, accompanied by State Sen. John Liu and Council Member Sandra Ung, was warmly greeted by several local residents. However, one man did interrupt the Governor by loudly proclaiming that he was voting for Blakeman before labeling Hochul a “piece of sh*t.”
The governor, however, received much more encouraging support from the nearby polling site at Queen of Angels, where voters seemed to overwhelmingly back the governor in a district that has emerged as a stronghold for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Carl Adair, who voted alongside his two young children, said Hochul appears to be taking New York in the “right direction,” but said he wished she would “push a little harder in a progressive direction.”
I’m heartened by the work that she and Mayor Mamdani are doing together [on childcare] and I’d love to see more,” Adair said.
Adair, like several other voters polled by QNS, said his vote for Hochul was also a rejection of Blakeman and the Republican Party.
“My sense of Bruce Blakeman is that he’s xenophobic and backward-looking, and his vision for New York does not resonate with my values at all.”
Barbara Helms, who also voted for Hochul, said she believed a Blakeman victory would be bad for New York State, outlining her belief that Blakeman would place corporate and billionaire interests over working-class New Yorkers. On the other hand, she believes Hochul is taking New York in the right direction through her partnership with Mamdani.
“I think we need more Democrats right now to sort of like balance the scales,” Helms said.
Stay tuned to amNY.com all day for the latest news on the 2026 midterm elections in New York.