New York Gov. Hochul and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado win Democratic primary; Rep. Lee Zeldin wins GOP race
Gov. Hochul sailed to victory Tuesday as she easily defeated a pair of Democratic primary opponents and took a step closer to becoming the first woman elected governor of New York.
The incumbent Democrat beat out Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Jumaane Williams, the city public advocate, in an early summer contest that saw exceptionally low voter turnout across the state.
The Associated Press called the race at 9:25 p.m.
“I stand on the shoulders of generations of women, generations of women who constantly had to bang up against that glass ceiling,” Hochul said Tuesday night, dressed in white in a nod to suffragists as she addressed supporters at a Manhattan celebration. “To the women of New York, this one’s for you.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, center, celebrates her win during the primaries at Tribeca 360, Manhattan, New York, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Shawn Inglima/)
Hochul will face off against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), who topped a crowded GOP field on Tuesday, in November’s general election.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the primary election — which featured Democratic and Republican contests for governor, lieutenant governor, and 150 state Assembly seats — was on track for an extremely low voter turnout, a fact that came as little surprise given that the primary was held as schools let out for summer break and many New Yorkers were scratching their heads over a confusing redistricting process.
At the Public School 81 polling site in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant, only about a dozen voters cast ballots over about an hour’s span Tuesday afternoon.
One of them, Lisa Jackson, 53, bemoaned the thin collective civic effort, but said it also served to push her to her polling place.
“The fact that so few are coming out is making me more motivated because our voices need to be heard,” she said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, left, and Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado, right, celebrate their wins in the primaries at Tribeca 360, Manhattan, New York, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Shawn Inglima/)
Mayor Adams, who endorsed Hochul in her run and also voted at P.S. 81, said more needs to be done about voter turnout — and that those efforts should begin at an early age.
“Start in school, and do mock elections with students. Everyone should have a mandatory field trip to a polling site to touch it and get it done,” he said. “We have to get more people engaged.”
Then, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Adams quipped: “One way to get people engaged a lot is to make sure I’m on the ballot.”
In the nine days of early voting that preceded Tuesday’s election, only 178,221 New Yorkers cast ballots out of a total of more than 13.3 million registered voters across the state, data released by the state’s Board of Elections showed. In New York City, a mere 86,890 people took part in early voting — that’s out of nearly 5.6 million registered voters in the city.
Final turnout numbers were not immediately available, but as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, only about 370,000 of the city’s registered voters had cast a ballot, according to the Board of Elections.
People vote at the Anning S. Prall Intermediate School in the Staten Island borough of New York City on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Ted Shaffrey/)
The main event Tuesday was the governor’s race. And as voters cast their ballots, Hochul remained the clear favorite in the Democratic primary — thanks in large part to a massive fundraising haul that continued to grow up until just a day before Tuesday. As of Monday, Hochul raised more than $34 million.
She became governor last year after her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, stepped down amid accusations of sexual misconduct by multiple women. After casting her ballot, Jackson said she missed Cuomo’s “rugged style of leadership,” but added she’s been happy enough with Hochul to vote for her and her running mate for lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.
“So far, so good with Hochul, but she’s more gentle, and we need that good, strong, strict leadership,” said Jackson, who works for the city government’s IDNYC program.
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks after her win at Tribeca 360, Manhattan, New York, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Shawn Inglima/)
Hochul’s primary opponents, Suozzi and Williams, struggled to raise money compared with the sitting governor. Suozzi pulled together upward of $7.3 million and Williams took in about $533,000, campaign finance records show.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado also defeated a pair of primary challengers Tuesday and will join Hochul on a shared ticket in November.
Lieutenant Governor Delgado celebrates at Tribeca 360 in Manhattan, New York, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Shawn Inglima/)
Republicans voting in the primary had three options in addition to Zeldin: former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, businessman Harry Wilson and Andrew Giuliani, the son of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and an aide to former President Donald Trump.
According to state election records, Zeldin raised more than $11.1 million, Astorino took in about $1.7 million, Giuliani raked in about $931,000, and Wilson, who spent millions of dollars of his own money, raised more than $2.2 million.
“Kathy Hochul is in over her head. She’s a walking identity crisis,” Zeldin said during an election night speech.
GOP Candidate for Governor Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) speaks during his election night party at the Coral House on June 28, 2022 in Baldwin, New York. (Michael M Santiago/GettyImages/)
Among the few voters who came out Tuesday afternoon to cast ballots at P.S. 81 was Billy Rudberg, a 29-year-old furniture delivery driver who lives around the corner.
Polls show tight race in New York’s GOP primary for governor
Rudberg said he voted for Williams and lieutenant governor candidate Ana Maria Archila because of their progressive platforms.
“I’m big fans of theirs and hoping they can make real community changes — less prisons, defund the NYPD, more money to education, things of that nature,” he said.
New York Lt. Gov candidate Alison Esposito speaks during NY GOP Candidate for Governor Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) election night party at the Coral House on June 28, 2022 in Baldwin, New York. (Michael M Santiago/Getty Images /)
He added that he doesn’t believe Hochul can enact real change because she’s “from the same school as Cuomo.”
“Cuomo was always very Dem establishment,” he said. “She is in that same bracket.”
Cornelius Byrne, a Republican and a horse carriage worker who appeared in Home Alone 2, said he cast his vote for Wilson because of his moderate stance on abortion — a hot button issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday.
“I have family and a wife and daughters that are very concerned about this,” said Byrne, who voted at a Hudson Yards polling site in Manhattan. “I certainly wouldn’t want to think if anybody got raped, they had to have that child. I don’t agree with that.”
