Twice the number of New Yorkers are turning out for early voting in the 2025 primary compared to four years ago, data from the city Board of Elections show.
The dramatic 50% spike hints that the heated Democratic mayoral primary — which polls show is a tight two-way race between frontrunner Andrew Cuomo and runner-up Zohran Mamdani — has lit a fire under Big Apple voters.
Nearly 94,000 New Yorkers cast ballots during the first three days of early voting — which began Saturday and lasts through June 22 — compared to 44,000 at the same point in 2021, BOE data show.
Brooklyn led the boroughs with early votes cast – 33,000 – after three days, in contrast to the 2021 when Manhattan held that distinction.
And this year, younger voters under the age of 44 accounted for 45% of ballots cast so far – a potential positive sign for the Mamdani, a leftist social media phenom.
“F–k Andrew Cuomo,” declared Maia Villalba, 23, at a polling site outside Southbridge Towers near the Financial District — where she told The Post she ranked Mamdani first, inspired by his campaign promise to make city buses free.
By contrast, retiree Ann Munkenback, 79, said she’d rather hold her nose for the former governor, despite the sexual harassment allegations against him, which he has denied.
“He’s (Cuomo is) kind of a bully, but he’ll get things done,” she said at an Upper West Side polling site. “He certainly has charisma.”
Stella Saint-Claire, 38, a nail artist who cast her ballot in Williamsburg Community Center, called herself “politically inept” and said she voted for Mamdani based in part on a friend’s recommendation and the Democratic socialist candidate’s promise to keep rents low.
“I don’t know, politics is just really confusing,” Saint-Clair said.
“But stuff like this probably is important.”
Saint-Clair, who is also in a band, noted one of their last shows featured an “Anybody But Cuomo” chant.
Munkenbeck, the 79-year-old Cuomo voter, said her second pick was City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is polling in third place behind the ex-gov and Mamdani, and then hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson.
She also tapped friends for help in deciding how to fill out her ballot.
“We have a glass of wine and right into the politics,” Munkenbeck said.
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