Voters throughout the Hudson Valley flocked to the polls yesterday after turning out in strong numbers for early voting that ran from Oct. 25 through Nov. 3. Connecticut also had strong voter turnout. Unlike results at the national level, Democrats in Westchester County had overall success at the ballot box.
According to preliminary figures released by the New York State Board of Elections, statewide there were a total of 2,985,181 ballots cast during the early voting period. In New York City, the total was 1,089,328.
Westchester had 180,097 early voters. In Rockland, the preliminary total was 60,693. Dutchess County saw 64,267 people show up at the polls to cast early ballots. In Orange, the number was 68,182. Putnam had 24,211 ballots cast, while in Sullivan the number was 9,278 and in Ulster County there were 35,774 early voters.
While Donald Trump and J. D. Vance won the presidential and vice presidential contests nationwide, they were soundly defeated in Westchester County. The unofficial tally from the Westchester County Board of Elections on Wednesday morning showed that 433,610 votes were cast for president and vice president in Westchester. The Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz received 273,472 votes, or 63% of the total. Trump and Vance received 37%, for 160,138 votes.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand won her third full term in the Senate. In Westchester, the Democrat received 273,867 votes (65%) compared with 147,501 for Republican challenger Michael Sapriacone (35%).
Westchester County Executive George Latimer was the clear winner for the 16th District seat in Congress now held by Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Bowman was defeated in a Democratic Primary by Latimer. In the general election, Latimer trounced Republican Miriam Flisser with 186,555 votes, or 70% of the total, compared with 79,536 votes, 30%, for Flisser.
During his remarks at the Westchester County Democratic Committee election night watch party in White Plains, Latimer said, “Extreme views on both sides is all anyone hears and people are upset enough to want to do away with democracy. My mission in Washington will be to move past the extreme rhetoric and work to produce real results.”
A particularly hard fought Congressional race was in the 17th District where Democrat Mondaire Jones lost to Republican incumbent Mike Lawler. In the Westchester section of the district, however, Jones received more votes than Lawler. Jones had 55% of the Westchester vote, or 81,469 votes, compared with Lawler’s 43% or 64,620 votes.
There were two propositions on the Westchester ballot. Proposition 1, the Equal Rights Amendment, expands specific protections of civil rights including a woman’s reproductive rights including the right to birth control, IVF, and abortion. It passed statewide and the count in Westchester was 276,348 “yes” to 129,844 “no.”
The second proposition was to extend the length of a Westchester County Legislator’s term from two years to four years. It was defeated 219,825 “no” votes to 165,874 “yes” votes.
Democrats Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Jamaal T. Bailey, Shelley Mayer, and Peter Harckham won their races for New York State Senate.
Democrat Susan Cacace was elected Westchester District Attorney over Republican John Sarcone.
Wednesday morning, Gov. Kathy Hochul congratulated New York’s newly elected and re-elected Democratic members of Congress, as well as those who prevailed in down-ballot races.
“I want to acknowledge the dedication of all the candidates, their staff, organized labor, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to build a stronger New York for all,” Hochul said. “I want New Yorkers to know that as your governor, I am committed to safeguarding the rights, freedoms and values we hold dear no matter what lies ahead.”
