Early voting starts this Saturday in the 2024 election in New York, and while the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump dominates the discussion, Manhattanites also have many down-ballot races to consider.
New York’s junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, is up for re-election statewide, as are all seats in the state Senate and Assembly. The one common factor for the races in Manhattan is that all of the incumbents, who happen to be Democrats, are expected to easily win their races in a solidly blue borough that will likely see an overwhelming Democratic vote in the presidential race.
Beyond the presidential and legislative contests, Manhattan residents will also choose several judges to court seats and answer six ballot questions on the back of their ballots.
Here’s a rundown of who and what is on the ballot in Manhattan in the Nov. 5 general election:
Top of the ballot
No surprise here: The presidential race is at the very top of the ballot in New York. The Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to win New York state over the Republican ticket of Donald Trump, the former president, and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
Though Trump is holding a rally on Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden and has insisted he has a chance of winning New York state, he is facing an uphill climb in the Empire State, which has not gone for a Republican presidential nominee since Ronald Reagan was re-elected president in his 1984 landslide victory.
Whoever wins New York state will earn 26 electoral votes; the candidate who secures at least 270 electoral votes nationwide, as determined by the popular votes in each respective state, will be elected president. The outcome of the election will be certified in Congress on Jan. 6, 2025, in accordance with the Electoral Count Act and the U.S. Constitution.
There are no third-party candidates for president and vice president on the ballot in New York state.
Legislative races
Gillibrand, first appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009, seeks her third elected term as New York senator. The incumbent Democrat is facing a challenge for Republican nominee Mike Sapraicone, a Long Island resident and former NYPD member.
Also challenging Gillibrand is a third-party candidate: Sloatsburg resident Diane Sare, running on the LaRouche line.
Manhattan’s three Congressional representatives are also seeking new terms for their posts, and are facing Republican challengers.
In the 10th District, freshman Democrat U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman seeks re-election against Republican nominee Alexander Dodenhoff of the Lower East Side and Conservative choice Paul Briscoe of Brooklyn.
Long-time U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, of the 12th District, is facing a challenge from Republican candidate Michael Zumbluskas of the Upper East Side.
U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat is also up for re-election to the 13th District seat covering Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and the Bronx. Republican and Conservative candidate Ruben Vargas is challenging him.
Want to learn more about all the candidates? Visit the NYC Campaign Finance Board’s nonpartisan voter guide, online at nycvotes.org.
Moving to Albany, a number of Manhattan state Senators are facing challenges in their quest for re-election. They include state Sen. Liz Krueger of the 28th Senate District; the Democratic veteran is opposed by Republican nominee Louis Puliavito of the Upper East Side.
Democratic State Sen. Jose Serrano of the 29th Senate District, which covers Harlem and parts of the Bronx, is being challenged by Republican and Conservative nominee Tanya Carmichael.
In the 47th District, Democratic state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal seeks another term in office against Republican challenger Emily Yuexin Miller.
Just a handful of Assembly seats covering Manhattan are being contested in the Nov. 5 general election. They include the 70th Assembly District seat, where Democratic nominee Jordan J.G. Wright faces Republican Seson Adams for the right to succeed the retiring Assembly Member Inez Dickens.
In the neighboring 71st Assembly District, incumbent Democratic Assembly Member Al Taylor faces a challenge from Republican nominee Joziel Andujar.
Freshman Democratic Assembly Member Alex Bores is getting a second-term challenge for his 73rd Assembly District seat from Republican candidate Awadhesh Gupta.
The following candidates, meanwhile, are running unopposed for election to the following seats:
- State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, 27th Senate District
- State Sen. Cordell Cleare, 30th Senate District
- State Sen. Robert Jackson, 31st Senate District
- State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, 59th Senate District
- Assembly Member Charles Fall, 61st Assembly District
- Assembly Member Grace Lee, 65th Assembly District
- Assembly Member Deborah Glick, 66th Assembly District
- Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, 67th Assembly District
- Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs, 68th Assembly District
- Micah Lasher, Democratic nominee for the 69th Assembly District seat held by the retiring Assembly Member Danny O’Donnell
- Assembly Member Manny De Los Santos, 72nd Assembly District
- Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, 74th Assembly District
- Assembly Member Tony Simone, 75th Assembly District
- Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, 76th Assembly District.
Judicial races
Manhattan voters will also elect jurists to several Supreme and Civil Court seats. In several of these contests, voters will be asked to pick more than one candidate from the slate — but in all races, the candidates are Democrats facing no opposition.
The races are as follows:
- Justice of the Supreme Court, 1st Judicial District (pick 2): Cynthia Sharon Kern and Gerald Lebovits.
- Judge of the Civil Court, countywide (pick 6): Louis Nock, Malaika Scott-McLaughlin, Allison Greenfield, Harold Bahr, Elizabeth Shamahs and Crystal Villasenor.
- Judge of the Civil Court, 1st Municipal Court District (pick 1): Ilona Coleman.
- Judge of the Civil Court, 2nd Municipal Court District (pick 1): Alice Tam Tien.
- Judge of the Civil Court, 5th Municipal Court District (pick 1): Ralph Wolf.
- Judge of the Civil Court, 8th Municipal Court District (pick 1): Jose Padilla Jr.
- Judge of the Civil Court, 10th Municipal Court District (pick 1): J. Machelle Sweeting.
Ballot questions
Be sure to flip your ballot and answer all of the ballot referendums therein, as they could lead to important changes in the state Constitution and/or the City Charter.
Proposal Number 1, the only statewide question on the ballot, focuses on adding an Equal Rights Amendment to the state Constitution. Voters will be asked to select yes or no on enshrining into state law provisions that would “protect against unequal treatment based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity and pregnancy.” The question also asks New Yorkers whether to codify reproductive healthcare rights into law.
The other five ballot questions focus on City Charter amendments that were drafted and recommended by the Charter Revision Commission, a panel Mayor Eric Adams convened earlier this year.
Proposal Number 2 asks voters to select yes or no on expanding the Sanitation Department’s “power to clean the streets and other city property, and require disposal of waste in containers.”
The next two ballot questions, however, might be the most controversial, as their passage would impact the City Council’s legislative efforts.
Proposal Number 3, if approved with a yes vote, would require the City Council to provide “fiscal analysis … before hearings and votes on laws, authorize fiscal analysis from the mayor, and update budget deadlines.”
Proposal Number 4, if approved with a yes vote, would further require the City Council to provide “additional public notice and time before the City Council votes on laws respecting the public safety operations of the Police, Correction or Fire Departments.”
Proposal Number 5 focuses on the annual assessment of city-owned facilities. If approved with a yes vote, city agencies would be required to provide more detail in assessing maintenance needs, inform capital planning, and update capital planning deadlines.
Finally, Proposal Number 6, if approved with a yes vote, would allow the mayor to establish a Chief Business Diversity Officer to support minority—and women-owned businesses and empower the mayor to “designate the office that issues film permits and combine archive boards.”
Voting information
Early voting begins on Oct. 26 and runs through Nov. 3 at designated early voting sites across Manhattan. Visit vote.nyc to find your location and the hours of operation.
On Election Day, Nov. 5, thousands of local polling sites across Manhattan will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. You can also find your designated local polling place at vote.nyc.
Remember: If you are online to vote when poll sites close, do not leave! You will be given the opportunity to cast your ballot. If you have any questions about voting or wish to report problems, visit vote.nyc or call 212-VOTE-NYC.
