NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York voters are turning out early in high numbers for a mayoral race that’s captured the country’s attention.
After six days of early voting, 398,477 ballots have been cast, according to the New York City Board of Elections. That’s more than double the total of early voters in the 2021 general election and already higher than the 384,338 early votes during June’s primary.
Early voting continues through Sunday, with Election Day set for Nov. 4.
At the center of the contest is a charged matchup: Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmker from Queens who describes himself as a democratic socialist, versus Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who lost the primary race to Mamdani and is running as an independent.
A Quinnipiac University poll this month found Mamdani leading with 43% support, compared with Cuomo’s 33%, and Republican Curtis Sliwa trailing at 14%.
The early surge could suggest that New York City is shaking off decades of voter apathy in local races.
Turnout for the mayor’s race has been strong throughout the week, with only a slight dip on Thursday, when the city was hit by rain and flash flooding. In 2021, when early voting was first allowed in a mayoral race, about 15% of ballots were cast before Election Day. For this year’s June primary, that share climbed above 35%.
Cuomo, 67, signed the bill authorizing early voting in 2019. So far, election data show older New Yorkers are turning out at the highest rates, a demographic that polling suggests leans toward Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani by more than 12 points.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com.