Mamdani Intensifies NYC Primary Push as Early Voting Falls 55% to 172,684 Ballots
Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Jun 22
Mamdani Intensifies NYC Primary Push as Early Voting Falls 55% to 172,684 Ballots
3 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Jun 22
Summary
172,684 Democrats voted early in New York City’s nine-day primary period, down 55% from last year and equal to just 5% of eligible voters, prompting Mayor Zohran Mamdani to campaign aggressively for progressive congressional candidates.
Mamdani spent the weekend rallying supporters in Bushwick, Greenpoint and Williamsburg for Assemblymember Claire Valdez, after launching the push Thursday night at a Kings Theater event with Bernie Sanders.
The alarm is especially acute in the 7th Congressional District, where Valdez faces Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso: early voting more than tripled in the second half of the period, yet only about 6% of registered Democrats participated.
Younger voters have lagged most sharply, with Gen Z and millennial turnout around 4%—about one-third of 2025’s early-voting level—while strategists say the absence of a marquee citywide race favors older, wealthier and whiter habitual voters.
The primaries have become an informal test of Mamdani’s political strength because he endorsed candidates in three House races, even as turnout ran stronger elsewhere, including roughly 12% in the 12th District and a Goldman-backed spike in part of the 10th.