NEW YORK — New York City saw relatively sluggish turnout in the opening weekend of early voting for the Nov. 8 election, with about 100,000 ballots reported cast across the city, as the governor’s race kicked into high gear.
Though New York City lacks congressional battlegrounds — only the race to represent Staten Island and a sliver of Brooklyn appears competitive — the fight for city voters has become central in the governor’s race atop the ticket.
Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island, the Trump-allied Republican attempting to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, has spent weeks blitzing the five boroughs with a pledge to toughen the criminal justice system. Hochul, meanwhile, has scrambled in recent days to activate city voters after opinion polls showed her lead slipping to single digits.
