Younger voters start to hit the polls in a New York City mayoral election that could see historic turnout
Younger New Yorkers are starting to make their mark at the ballot box, turning out at a higher clip over the past few days of early voting in the highly-watched mayoral race.
New Yorkers under 50 years old, who are more likely to support 34-year-old Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, have been closing the gap each day throughout the week with older voters—a bloc that has traditionally made up the majority of poll-goers. This trend could spell trouble for Andrew Cuomo, who has been counting on the older vote to help boost him to an upset victory over the young socialist. Cuomo’s surrogates have touted the nearly 60% turnout in that age group over the weekend as a significant advantage for the ex-governor.
The 50-plus crowd kicked off the week strong, accounting for more than 62% of the votes cast on Monday. However, that lead dwindled to 57% and then 54% over the next two days. On Thursday, younger voters made a strong push, nearly overtaking the Baby Boomers at the polls with a close 49-51 split.
The nine-day period of early voting ends this Saturday, ahead of Election Day on November 4. The number of New Yorkers turning out is set to reach historic levels. Figures have already far surpassed the total ballots cast during the entire early voting period for the Democratic primary. The Board of Elections reported nearly 400,000 check-ins at voting locations around the city as of Thursday evening. By comparison, early voters accounted for only 284,000 of the nearly 1.1 million ballots cast in that primary.
Thursday saw a comparatively low turnout, likely due to rainy weather, with just 26,000 people heading to the polls. Despite the lower numbers, the younger voter group gained almost a full percentage point on the older voters. Overall, those above 50 have made up just over 57% of the early voting turnout so far.
During the primary, Mamdani surged to victory with strong support from younger voters, resulting in a near 50-50 split between age groups. Some insiders remain unfazed by the shifting early voting trends, arguing that recent youth turnout hasn’t been sufficient to change the overall dynamics of the race.
“That was clearly a reaction to the weekend,” said one insider close to the Cuomo camp, referring to the early days of voting being dominated by older voters. “The trends are still showing what they did earlier in the week.”
If voting trends mirror those from the June primary, total turnout could surpass 2 million voters in this election.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/30/us-news/younger-voters-start-to-hit-the-polls-in-a-new-york-city-mayoral-election/
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