The candidates in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District were sprinting to the finish Monday as they tried to rally every vote across the district.
The weather might have been dreary, but the candidates vying to be the first to represent the newly drawn district weren’t letting the rain keep them from reaching voters.
Many of the front-runners in the race used their final day before the primary to reach voters in the Manhattan side of the district.
Rep. Mondaire Jones, who currently represents a Hudson Valley congressional district, was out knocking on doors at a public housing complex on the Lower East Side. Jones said that his campaign has already knocked on 100,000 doors, adding he’s feeling confident headed into Tuesday.
“I’ve had personal conversations with voters throughout New York’s 10th Congressional District. They are telling me that either: they are voting for me, have already voted for me or are deciding between me and one or two other candidates,” Jones said. “That’s a great position to be in.”
Manhattan Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou took a slightly different approach, taking the time to field last minute questions on education, housing, and healthcare from residents at Southbridge Towers by the Brooklyn Bridge.
“I think the biggest thing is that voters know that this is a choice for them and people can choose who they want,” said Niou before adding that the primary is “an important one. This is really about fighting for our lives right now.”
Council Member Carlina Rivera went back to her roots for the day, canvassing for voters among the businesses she grew up frequenting in the Lower East Side.
“To get out my base, the people I consider to know the best is really, really important. We’re here, it’s towards the end and it’s been really exciting,” said Rivera while standing outside of Economy Candy, a local neighborhood candy store.
“I’m really, really happy that people know they can elect someone who is homegrown and who is a fighter,” added Rivera.
Dan Goldman, the former federal prosecutor seen by some of his opponents as the candidate to beat, was also in Lower Manhattan defending against accusations he is “buying the seat” by pumping millions of his own fortune into his campaign.
Goldman dismissed the concerns and said that he funded his own campaign to the tune of $4 million so that he could have more time to spend meeting with voters.
“I had a decision to make in a short race, which is whether I’m going to spend more time talking to donors or voters,” Goldman said. “I put my own money in so that I could get out and speak to the voters, and what I can assure the voters is that I will be beholden only to their interests and none other.”
As of Monday, nearly 77,000 ballots were cast early, according to the New York City Board of Elections.
August Primary Early Voting complete!
— NYC Board of Elections (@BOENYC) August 22, 2022
Manhattan - 36,852
Bronx- 4,558
Brooklyn- 23,602
Queens- 4,900
Staten Island - 6,423
Total Number of Early Voting Check-ins 76,335
*Unofficial & cumulative as of close of polls
And the race is going to possibly rely on absentee voting. As of Monday, over 20,000 absentee ballots have been sent out of which over 7,000 have been returned.
Polls are open from 6 am to 9 p.m. Tuesday.