Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off the political upset of the primary season when she defeated long-serving House Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s federal Democratic primaries in June.
Actress and activist Cynthia Nixon came up short against incumbent Andrew Cuomo in a high-profile and heated Democratic gubernatorial primary race.
But women still won on Thursday. New York City public advocate Letitia James emerged from a four-way race for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general race, and she will be the first black woman to hold the job if she wins in November. Democratic socialist candidate Julia Salazar also emerged victorious over Martin Dilan in a key state senate race in another win for the left.
New York’s Democrats look likely to emerge victorious in their fight to take control of state government in November.
Polls closed at 9 pm Eastern. Live results, powered by Decision Desk, are below.
New York governor primary
Democratic Primary
Andrew Cuomo | 975,664 | 66% |
Cynthia Nixon | 511,661 | 34% |
Cuomo is a powerful two-term incumbent who positioned himself as a centrist Democrat and dealmaker. He’s achieved liberal policy priorities in office, but his critics see him as not sufficiently progressive, leaving an opening for a challenger from the left.
Nixon, who ran on a platform of economic and racial justice and took on Cuomo for his failure to address the New York City subway crisis and corruption in Albany.
Late-breaking Cuomo controversies included a bridge opening and a mailer accusing Nixon of anti-Semitism sent to Jewish voters piled onto an already bitter primary battle. But it wasn’t enough for Nixon to topple Cuomo. Even though she couldn’t, she did real damage to his political ambitions. Cuomo is among those Democrats who are rumored to be considering a 2020 presidential run. The Democratic base might be souring on Cuomo’s brand of transactional politics.
New York attorney general primary
Democratic Primary
Letitia A. James | 578,433 | 41% |
Zephyr Teachout | 441,622 | 31% |
Sean Patrick Maloney | 356,699 | 25% |
Leecia R. Eve | 48,500 | 3% |
New York’s attorney general has gained even more national prominence in the Trump era. It’s not just the legal challenges against the administration’s policies — New York is the president’s home state, and investigations into Trump University and his family charity have been led by this office.
New York City public advocate Letitia James emerged from the field of four Democrats competing to up the pressure on Trump and defend New York from the impact of the administration’s policies. James defeated attorney and professor Zephyr Teachout, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, and Verizon executive and former Clinton and Cuomo aide Leecia Eve.
James could be the first African-American women elected to statewide office in New York in November.
New York state Senate District 18
Democratic Primary
Julia Salazar | 20,603 | 59% |
Martin Dilan | 14,614 | 41% |
Julia Salazar took on incumbent Martin Dilan in Brooklyn, in another test of democratic socialism. Unfortunately, it turned into a strange tabloid circus after Salazar was accused of lying about her working-class immigrant background. But it turns out Salazar’s progressive and social justice platform resonated with voters, despite the controversies.