New York held presidential and congressional primaries the week of June 23.- There are competitive Democratic primaries still yet to be called, including in New York's 15th district, an open seat, and the race in the 12th district between Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Suraj Patel.
- New York allowed all voters to vote absentee without an excuse. Because clerks cannot start counting absentee ballots until days after the election, many races won't be called until next week.
Absentee ballots that are postmarked by June 23 will be accepted at election offices through June 30, meaning that many of these elections will not be called until this week. As The New York Times notes, prevailing New York law only permits county clerks to begin counting absentee ballots until eight days after the election and after all in-person votes have been tabulated.
The current results, those released on Tuesday after the polls closed, only include in-person early and election day votes.
The stakes:
New York's Democratic presidential primary was put officially back on after a judge ruled against the New York Board of Elections' attempt to cancel it, citing COVID-19 concerns, after Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race.
New York District Judge Analisa Torres rejected the BOE's claim that continuing to hold the presidential primary would jeopardize public health and ordered the state to conduct a full presidential primary with all qualifying candidates on the ballot.
Former VP Joe Biden has been the presumptive Democratic nominee since April 8 and now has officially earned the required number of delegates to formally clinch the nomination. But Sanders is staying on the ballot and continuing to earn delegates in the remaining presidential primary states for his campaign to have representation on key Democratic National Convention committees.
There were also several competitive House primaries and elections occurring this week.
In New York's 27th congressional district, there was be a special election to replace former Rep. Chris Collins, who resigned after pleading guilty to federal insider trading charges. The Republican nominee Chris Jacobs defeated Democrat Nate McMurray in the district, which Trump carried by nearly 25 points in 2016.
In the Greater New York City area, there are several notable Democratic primaries in four safe Democratic-held seats. Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lost in an upset against primary challenger Jamaal Bowman, a former middle school principal.
In New York's 9th district, which includes several neighborhoods in Central Brooklyn, Rep. Yvette Clarke defeated primary challenger Adem Bunkedddeko, who won 47% of the vote against in her 2018, and a challenge from the center from Councilman Chaim Deutsch.
There are also two competitive primaries for open seats held by Democrats. In New York's South Bronx-based 15th district, held by retiring Rep. Jose Serrano, New York City Councilmembers Ruben Diaz Sr. and Ritchie Torres are the frontrunners in the Democratic primary. Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Assemblyman Michael Blake, former City Council President Melissa Mark-Viverito, and affordable housing advocate Samelys Lopez are also vying for the seat.
In New York's 17th district, which is based in the Hudson Valley and includes Rockland and parts of Westchester Counties, attorney and activist Mondaire Jones defeated crowded field of candidates are competing to replace retiring Rep. Nita Lowey. State Senator David Carlucci, former State Department advisor Evelyn Farkas, State Representative David Buchwald, and former federal prosecutor Adam Schleifer all ran in the primary.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose district includes most of Manhattan's West Side and parts of Brooklyn, defeated long-shot primary challenges from Lindsey Boylan and Jonathan Herzog.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York's 12th district, which includes much of the East Side of Manhattan and parts of Queens, is facing a re-match against primary challenger Suraj Patel, who won 40% of the vote in 2018.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won her seat in New York's 14th congressional district in a historic upset over longtime incumbent Joe Crowley in 2018, easily beat a primary challenger from the center launched by former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, who had significant backing from Wall Street donors.
There are also competitive Republican primaries in competitive House seats that Democrats won back from the GOP in the 2018 midterms.
In New York's 11th district, which includes all of Staten Island and some of Brooklyn, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis beat former prosecutor Joe Caldarera for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Max Rose this November.
Upstate, former GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney won the Republican primary for her old seat in New York's Syracuse-based 22nd district, which Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi won back from her in 2018.
In the Hudson Valley, attorney Kyle Van De Water and fashion designer Ola Hawatmeh are competing neck-and-neck in the Republican primary to face Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado, who won back New York's 19th congressional district for the Democrats in 2018.
In New York's 2nd district, based in Long Island, there are competitive Democratic and Republican primaries to replace retiring GOP Rep. Peter King.
Jackie Gordon, a US Army veteran, former high school counselor, and Babylon Town Council member is competing against attorney and Suffolk County Democratic Committee member Patricia Maher.
Two New York State Assemblymen, Andrew Garbarino and Michael LiPetri, are competing for the Republican nomination to succeed King.