Record-Breaking Early Voting Looks Good for Mamdani

Early voting in the mayoral election began on Saturday, and initial figures show smashed numbers from the last race and even the June Democratic primary when high voter turnout elevated Zohran Mamdani to victory.

By the end of Sunday, 164,190 New Yorkers had cast their ballot, a staggering figure for the first two days of the early voting. Brooklyn is currently leading the other four boroughs with 49,432, followed by Manhattan close behind with 49,191 votes cast. (The Bronx has the lowest number of early voters at 14,225.) By comparison, the June primary logged 66,361 early voters by the end of the second day while the 2021 mayoral election saw only 31,176 voters those first two days. The comparison to Mayor Eric Adams’s victory is an imperfect one, however, as the general election was not competitive and came during the pandemic.

The significant level of turnout suggests a high level of enthusiasm among voters, which powered Mamdani to a double-digit victory over Andrew Cuomo thanks to an immense showing from young and first-time voters who went uncaptured in preelection polls.

A caveat, though: A data analysis from Gothamist shows Gen-X and baby-boomer voters combined made up 50 percent of early votes cast, two demographic groups that Cuomo has consistently led with in polls. Sixteen percent of those early voters are voters between 25 to 34. It’s unclear if these findings are indicative of a Cuomo boost or if it’s a sign of motivation among Republican voters as well following an uncompetitive primary in June when nominee Curtis Sliwa ran unopposed.

The show of force from voters comes amid an early voting push from the Mamdani campaign over the weekend that began with a long-awaited endorsement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and ended with a stadium rally in Queens with Mamdani alongside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The rally also featured appearances from Comptroller Brad Lander as well as Governor Kathy Hochul, who was heckled by the audience with calls to “Tax the rich!” a key plank of Mamdani’s platform that Hochul has expressed reservations with.

Early voting continues through November 2.