Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Elections

Elections

  • 5 Things to Watch on Election Day in New York

    statue of liberty water

    (photo: Mayor's Office on Flickr)


    Either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States. When we know which of the two New Yorkers will be number 45 depends on how the vote unfolds. Both candidates will be in New York City on election night: Clinton holding her event at the Javits Center, Trump holding his at the New York Hilton.

    The potential historic significance of the Presidential vote should not be overlooked: Hillary Clinton could become the first woman elected President of the

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  • On Election Day, Federal Policy & Funding Stakes High for New York City

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    Clinton & de Blasio (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be in New York City on election night, and one of them will be the next President of the United States. Through the results of the presidential election, which comes down to one native New Yorker and one New York transplant, and with the congressional elections on the ballot, there’s a great deal at stake for New York City.

    According to the fiscal year 2017 ...

  • A New Challenge for De Blasio: Balancing Re-election Campaign and Governing

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    De Blasio at NAN (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    New York City’s municipal party primary elections are ten months away, and though he does not yet have a formidable challenger in the race, Mayor Bill de Blasio is not sitting back unprepared. De Blasio, a first-term Democrat, has kickstarted his reelection campaign, raising funds and formulating a campaign message around his achievements. In part, he is trying to preempt a significant challenger from entering the fray. But, as de Blasio himself has said, being Mayor is a 24/7

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  • On the Issues: Presidential Candidate Comparison

    election candidates

    Click here to see the full list

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  • ‘October Surprises’ Rock Presidential Campaigns: A New York History

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    FDR 1940 campaign button (image: @FDRLibrary)


    The tumultuous 2016 presidential campaign will soon be over. This year may set a record for "October Surprises," unexpected revelations and events that grab media attention, jar the campaign, and alter candidates' prospects. It may be fitting that it is two candidates who call New York home having it out over these final, fitful days.

    For Donald Trump, it has been a series of major shocks -- evidence that he did not pay

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  • Gotham Gazette-WNYC General Election Guide 2016

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/NYC Mayor's Office)


    USE THE GOTHAM GAZETTE-WNYC ELECTION GUIDE TO BE READY TO VOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8:

    See more of our election coverage through our 2016 Election portal here. Or, jump straight to ...

  • Key Congressional & State Senate Races in New York Will Shape Chamber Control

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    Zephyr Teachout (D), left, & John Faso (R), debate in NY19


    As Election Day draws near, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have debated three times and are in the home stretch of the campaign -- as are Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. This election has shaped up to be like none other. When another round of revelations about Trump’s past

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  • Board of Elections Dysfunction on Display Again Ahead of Hearing

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    Council Member Joe Borelli (photo: William Alatriste)


    The dysfunction that has seemed to define the New York City Board of Elections this year was again on display Tuesday when its executive director first declined to testify at an imminent City Council oversight hearing and within hours reversed that decision.

    With just two weeks to go before the November 8 general election, the City Council’s Committee on Governmental Operations scheduled an oversight hearing for Wednesday to gauge the BOE’s preparedness -- something

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  • ‘Voters of New York’ Adds Human Touch to Civic Outreach Efforts

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    (photo: Voters of New York on Instagram)


    On October 14, the deadline for online voter registration in New York, NYC Votes announced the launch of a new project, “Voters of New York,” “which highlights stories from everyday New Yorkers sharing their personal thoughts about voting and why they plan to vote in this election.” An ongoing series of portraits of New Yorkers with their first-person explanations, Voters of New York is meant to spur civic engagement and boost voter turnout.

    NYC Votes is the voter engagement arm

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  • Limited Down Ballot Choices for New Yorkers Come November 8

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    sample ballot


    When New Yorkers go to the polls November 8, they’ll be facing a big choice at the top of the ballot, with four presidential candidates to choose from. Further down the ballot, however, there will be much more limited choice for many given the number of uncontested general election races for state legislative seats.

    New York City residents are represented by 91 seats in the New York State Legislature. Of those, 26 are in the 63-seat Senate and 65 in the 150-seat Assembly. Every

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  • The Week Ahead in New York Politics, October 17

    New York City Hall

    New York City Hall


    What to watch for this week in New York politics:

    Tuesday marks three weeks until Election Day and Wednesday night the third and final Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is scheduled to occur. Don't forget, a variety of key New York congressional and state legislative races are also in the home stretch -- November 8 is Election Day.

    Mayor Bill de Blasio did more campaigning for Clinton this weekend, in Dayton, Ohio. The mayor traveled

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  • Deadline Looms for Unregistered, Unaffiliated New York Voters

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    Bill de Blasio voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    New York State is home to roughly 2 million people who are eligible to vote but are not registered. The number is a rough estimate using numbers from the state Board of Elections and the American Community Survey. The November 8 general elections, including for President and a variety of state and local elected offices, are just under a month away. This Friday, October 14, is the deadline for New Yorkers to register to vote and many efforts are being made to encourage

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  • Another Shockingly Low Turnout Election

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    (photo via The Governor's Office)


    The numbers are bad again, additional proof that New Yorkers don’t pay much attention to local elections or make voting in them a priority. There were several hotly contested state legislative party primary elections on September 13, even a few for open seats, yet the best an individual New York City-based Assembly or Senate district did was 20% participation among active eligible voters.

    The winner

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  • Keeping a Republican State Senate Majority is Essential for New York

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    Senate Leader Flanagan & other GOP Senators (photo via NYS Senate)


    Whether it’s at the state or federal level, recent history has demonstrated that when one party controls government, checks and balances go out the window. Recent history has some important lessons as we approach this year’s crucial elections.

    In 2008 Democrats took control of Congress and along with the election of President Barack Obama, controlled the executive and legislative branches in Washington. In Albany, for the first time since 1964, Democrats gained a

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  • 2016 Again Highlights New York ‘Incumbency Protection Machine’

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    (photo via NYC Board of Elections)


    New York City residents are represented in the state Legislature by a total of 91 seats, 26 in the state Senate and 65 in the state Assembly. Among them, 60 are held by incumbents who were uncontested in their party primary elections that took place Tuesday, September 13.

    In these just-completed primaries, 66 percent -- or about two-thirds -- of the city’s state legislative seats saw no intra-party competition. Twenty-four New York City-based

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  • Super PAC’s Big Primary Spending Mostly Comes Up Short

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    Sen. Rivera (photo: Rivera's campaign website)


    A Super PAC that spent more than a million dollars on state legislative primaries mostly came up short on Tuesday. New Yorkers for Independent Action supported candidates who back its main issue: a proposed education investment tax credit that would largely help charter and private schools, and used its deep resources to attack those candidates’ opponents. The tax credit legislation has stalled in Albany and NYIA is

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  • For a Better Judicial Nominating Process, Support a Constitutional Convention

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    Mayor de Blasio swears in judges (photo: Ed Reed, Mayor's Office)


    We need to change the New York State Constitution to curb corruption in our government, we simply cannot wait for our elected officials to make those changes for us.

    Finding examples of corruption and self-serving behavior among our politicians in New York City and State is not difficult. It is part of all three branches of government - the legislative, executive, and judicial. In fact, New York has a judicial nominating process that has been condemned by

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  • New York State Legislative Primary Results

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    Marisol Alcantara and company celebrate (photo by Lis Smith on Twitter)


    On New York’s third primary night of this election year, state legislative races in New York City were almost all Democratic and many incumbents did not face intra-party challenges.

    In several state Senate and Assembly races across the city, Democratic primary winners were selected in fairly low voter turnout affairs and most will easily cruise to election in November - some won’t even have

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  • Assembly Candidates Turn Down Televised Debates

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    NY1 Anchor Errol Louis (NY1 screenshot)


    New York City’s premiere political television news show, NY1’s Inside City Hall, has been hosting candidate debates in the weeks leading up to the September 13 state legislative primaries, as it has ahead of past elections.

    NY1 has been home to many debates over the years, including earlier this year, when it hosted seven Democratic candidates seeking to replace retiring Rep. Charles Rangel and the NY1-CNN presidential primary

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  • Manhattan GOP Sees Hope on Upper East Side

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    Rebecca Harary with supporters (photo via @TeamHarary)


    When it comes to the New York State Legislature, most electoral attention is paid to the Senate, which Republicans control by a thin majority and only because an elected Democrat caucuses with them and they have a power-sharing agreement with a five-member faction of breakaway “independent” Democrats. This November’s elections will determine control of the chamber.

    In the State Assembly, however, the balance of power is not close. Republicans have been at a massive

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  • With No Clear Next Election, Council Speaker Raises and Spends

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    Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (photo: William Alatriste)


    As the calendar hurtles toward 2017, one of the big New York City political questions is what the future holds for Melissa Mark-Viverito, the speaker of the City Council. Mark-Viverito will be term-limited out of office at the end of next year and while she has indicated that she may continue to be active in city politics, there is no clear next step for her, especially in terms of elected office.

    Mark-Viverito, a Democrat, told ...

  • Trump Could Tip Key Races for State Senate Control

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    photo: @NewYorkGOP


    New York State Senate Democrats have picked up seats in every presidential year in the past two decades. They’ve been chomping at the bit for Hillary Clinton, a former New York Senator, to head the presidential ticket, telling anyone who would listen that she would bolster turnout for them and win them swing districts, thereby securing them control of the chamber, perhaps for good.

    What the Senate minority didn’t count on was the Republican presidential candidate being toxic to black and Hispanic voters and alienating a

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  • Bill De Blasio's Resurrection Challenge

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    Mayor de Blasio at Gracie Mansion (photo: Demetrius Freeman, Mayor's Office)


    After several months of what the mayor himself called “relentless negative headlines” around investigations into his administration and campaign fundraising, Bill de Blasio is facing low public approval ratings, strong doubts about whether he deserves to be re-elected in 2017, and a resurrection mission ahead of him.

    For the Democrat more than halfway through his third year in office, the upcoming task comes down to solidifying

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  • With De Blasio Appearing Vulnerable, Heightened Examination of Paths to Defeat Him

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    Mayor Bill de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed, Mayor's Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio often says he doesn’t put much stock in public opinion polls; he believes they’re about as accurate as weather predictions. When asked, he didn’t express much concern after a Quinnipiac University poll released August 1 showed that 51 percent of New York City voters don’t think he deserves to be re-elected in

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  • Could ‘Third Party’ Candidates Swing the Presidential Election?

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    Green Party candidate Jill Stein (photo via Facebook)


    With the Republican and Democratic parties having nominated presidential candidates with record-high unfavorability ratings, this election cycle is turning out to be a choice between a rock and a hard place for many voters. Some, though, are looking elsewhere and still-early polling shows that this November could yield near-record voting for so-called “third party” candidates.

    Those who oppose Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton say she’s an untrustworthy,

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