Midterms bring big voter turnout in NYC as Hochul, Zeldin duke it out at ballot box

New Yorkers came out in force Tuesday to cast their votes in the heated gubernatorial election and a slew of other vital midterm contests.

More than 1.4 million votes had been cast in the Big Apple alone as of 6 p.m., according to the city Board of Elections, with polling stations set to remain open until 9 p.m. and about 85,000 absentee ballots scanned and validated.

Deep-blue New York City propelled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to victory in 2018, when the Democrat won a majority of nearly 2.1 million total votes cast in the five boroughs that year.

Gov. Hochul’s odds of keeping her seat appeared to depend on big turnout in the city this year, too.

But with crime and the economy dominating recent months’ headlines, Democrats across the country have been on the defensive. Hochul faced a serious challenge from Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island, and numerous Democratic incumbents in the state’s congressional delegation were fighting to hold onto their seats, too.

Still, Tuesday’s early turnout numbers fired up local Dems.

“This might be one of the biggest turnouts we’ve had in a midterm election in recent history, and that is good news for Kathy Hochul and the Democrats,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine told the Daily News.

“The numbers as of 6 p.m. are really strong,” he added. “I think we’re headed for a really strong total, and that’s going to be great news for all the statewide races.”

Heading into Election Day, Zeldin’s tough-on-crime campaign put him within points of beating Hochul, according to the latest polls. Between that message and his criticism of Democrats’ handling of the economy, he appeared to make inroads throughout the state.

Brooklyn nurse Anna Jones cast her first non-Democratic vote — for Zeldin — at Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Public School 81 on Tuesday.

“I’ve never in my life voted Republican, but she’s just not the person for the job. I mean, she inherited the job,” Jones said of Hochul, who assumed office in the wake of Cuomo’s resignation last year.

“I want something different, rather than the same old thing,” Jones, 61, explained. “Let’s try something different. Either I was gonna vote for him, or I wasn’t gonna vote at all. So I just decided, ‘You know what, let me vote for him.’”

Jones split her ticket, though, voting Democrat for the down-ballot posts, including incumbent Letitia James for state attorney general.

Along with the AG, state legislators’ and congressional representatives’ seats are also up for grabs this year.

On Sunday, President Biden rallied alongside Hochul in Bronxville, N.Y., to argue that “democracy is at risk” in the midterms.

The theme seemed to resonate with Reed McLaurin, a tenants rights lawyer from the Upper West Side, and Thomas Spahn, a musician there.

“Our democracy is at stake this year,” said McLaurin, 27. “We have people across the country who don’t believe the last election was fair and we can’t let them take over.”

“We gotta get people in there that represent us and aren’t representing their power,” Spahn said. “We’re about to lose democracy.”

Spahn, 67, who owns up to having spotty voting record, said he’s become more engaged recently over the issue of abortion.

Last summer, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion. Since then, Hochul has sought to cast Zeldin as a menace to abortion rights.

That issue drove public school teacher Anthony Harmon to the polls, too.

“[Zeldin’s] whole stance on how he feels about a woman’s right to choose is a concern for me, as I have a mother, sister, aunts — you know, the women in my family,” said Harmon, 55. “So that’s one of the issues that most concerns me. I also think that he’s become like an echo chamber for ... the Donald Trump administration that I’m not a fan of.”

Louis Kleinman, a longtime Upper West Side resident, said his major concerns are climate change and Zeldin’s denial of the 2020 presidential election outcome.

Zeldin voted in Congress against certifying the results of that race, which former President Donald Trump falsely claims was stolen from him.

“On the top of my mind was the false narrative of the election steal,” said Kleinman, 87.

James Bailey, of Harlem, said that as a Black man he doesn’t take the right to vote lightly and that he worries about his rights if more Republicans are elected.

“I don’t see them as Republicans no more — I see them as Trumpers,” said Bailey, 71. “They’re trying to tear down the country.”

Fellow Harlem resident Sherman Powell, 75, unenthusiastically cast his vote for Hochul, even though he thought Zeldin had a “better platform” because of his focus on crime. But the issue of gun control proved more important to Powell.

“I do believe that the Democrats want to do something about the guns,” he said. “The Democrats are the lesser of the two evils.”

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Michael Prisco, 61, also voted for Zeldin.

“I think he’s going to approach it the way Pataki and Giuliani approached it — law and order,” said Prisco, a retired BOE employee whose political views have been formed by the violence he and his family have experienced.

Prisco, a supporter of Mayor Adams, said he rooted for Hochul when she took over from Cuomo but quickly became disillusioned.

“She’s not listening to us,” he said. “She should know that in a blue state, she’s fighting for her survival, and that should mean something’s wrong. The train is off the track.”

Crime was also key for Katie, a 68-year-old from the Upper West Side. She said her cousin was recently stabbed and she worries about Albany’s controversial bail reforms — the subject of relentless attacks from Zeldin and other Republicans.

“If they’re not going to prosecute people, if they do something, then they’re arrested, then they’re out on the street again … there’s going to be another victim,” said Katie, who declined to share her last name.

“Who knows if he is even going to be able to do anything,” she added.

Hochul dominated in the Democratic primary and entered the general election race anticipating an easy ride. But with tight poll numbers, her campaign has come alive in the past two weeks and pulled out the political big guns — Biden, Vice President Harris and both Hillary and Bill Clinton — to stump for her across the state.

More than 400,000 New Yorkers took advantage of early voting, state data shows, a hopeful sign for Democrats.

Mayor Adams cast his ballot at P.S. 81 in Brooklyn around 10:30 a.m.. Asked if he’d be able to work with a Gov. Zeldin, he said he has complete faith in Hochul

“I don’t even know why I need that question. Kathy’s winning tonight,” Hizzoner said. “I’m looking forward to continuing the partnership that we’ve had. So I cast my vote for her and I’m excited about continuing some of the stuff we’ve done.”

Harmon, the school teacher, was encouraged by the voter turnout numbers he checked before he headed to his poll site.

“I think voting in every election is important,” he said. “Whether you’re voting for president, City Council [or] dog catcher, you need to vote to make sure that your voices are heard.”