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Polls open for primary Election Day. Stakes are high for several NY Congressional races.
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Jun 23, 2026
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By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Jun 23, 2026
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It’s primary Election Day, where New Yorkers will vote in an unusually competitive slate of congressional races with big implications for the future of the Democratic Party.
Primary voters will also cast ballots in the first contested Democratic primary for state comptroller in decades, as well as some state legislative, judicial and party position races.
Because New York is so heavily Democratic, primaries often act as the de facto general election. The victors of the contested Democratic primaries are widely expected to win on Nov. 3.
New York state has closed primaries, meaning only registered voters in the party holding a primary can cast a ballot.
Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday and close at 9 p.m. If you don’t know where to vote, you can find your voting site here. For a full breakdown of the races and candidates, you can check out Gothamist’s voter guide.
The congressional primaries in New York City will be a major test of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political capital. He has thrown his support behind three progressive congressional candidates.
Mamdani is backing a democratic socialist ally, Assemblymember Claire Valdez, over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for the congressional district spanning parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress, endorsed Reynoso.
The mayor also endorsed former City Comptroller Brad Lander, who’s challenging Rep. Dan Goldman for the seat that covers Lower Manhattan and much of brownstone Brooklyn. Lander and Mamdani also cross-endorsed each other in last year’s ranked-choice mayoral primary.
And Mamdani picked Darializa Avila Chevalier, one of the lead organizers of the campus protests at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza, over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mamdani, however, has so far stayed out of the crowded race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York’s 12th Congressional District, which is the richest in the country and includes the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Midtown. It has become a target for outside spending groups seeking to influence AI regulation.
Looming over all the races is the candidates’ support of or opposition to Israel — mirroring a debate playing out in Democratic circles around the country.
In state legislative races, eight candidates backed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America are looking to maintain momentum from Mamdani's election and shift the balance of political power in Albany.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is facing his first Democratic primary challenge since taking office nearly two decades ago. His progressive challengers say he isn’t doing enough with the power bestowed upon the statewide office.
The only Republican primaries in New York City are for the 86th Assembly District in the West Bronx; the 22nd Senate District in Brooklyn, which stretches from Borough Park to Sheepshead Bay; the 26th Assembly District in Northeast Queens; and the 3rd Congressional District, which includes a small portion of northeast Queens.
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Walter Wuthmann
Walter Wuthmann is a reporter covering public safety and the legal system.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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