A lot of New Yorkers have turned out to cast their ballots since early voting began this past Saturday—almost 400,000 people, according to the Board of Elections. That's more than double the number of New Yorkers who voted early in 2021 (though that mayoral race wasn't nearly as contentious as this year's).
Leading the way in this early voting surge are New Yorkers over the age of 55 who live in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. What does this increase in early voters mean for Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo? As Adam Carlson, a pollster and founding partner of Zenith Research, told us this week, both candidates have reason to be encouraged, though the positives, he said, are a little more positive for Mamdani. After all, the assemblymember is continuing to maintain a healthy lead over Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, according to the latest polls.
Still, that hasn't stopped all of the candidates from aggressively campaigning across the city (and nor has it stopped billionaires like former Mayor Mike Bloomberg from dumping millions more in the waning days of election season into efforts to defeat Mamdani).
To hear from New Yorkers on the ground, Hell Gate visited Bed-Stuy and Mott Haven on Monday to talk to older voters outside early voting sites. In the June primary, 65 percent of voters in Bed-Stuy cast their ballots for Mamdani and 22 percent voted for Cuomo, while Mott Haven residents leaned toward Cuomo, who received 48 percent of the vote to Mamdani's 41 percent.
Are Bed-Stuy voters still all about Mamdanity? Has the front-runner been able to make inroads in Mott Haven, or are voters still open to the ex-gov?
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