5 Things to Watch in New York’s Primary Elections

Nixon likely won’t beat CUOMO for any number of reasons. Money and servitude play a monstrous role in NYS politics as recent history has shown . Hard to beat the house. Nonetheless, this may be Cuomos last stand. Why? For years I have been a fan of his father but gradually sensed that the son just doesn’t fill the shoes. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s as upright and upstanding as was Mario. There’s that slimy underside that pokes through every now and then that turns me off, maybe it’s just that I’m not accustomed to hearing a politician that tries so hard to be squeaky clean and in favor of everything that anyone wants. Quite unbelievable to me. But then, I grew up in Hudson County NJ

I miss the old voting machines. I felt like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain.

I just voted for the candidates who gave the most animal rights favorable comments in a detailed questionnaire sent to them, in interviews, in past actions and decisions for animals beholden to the desires of humans. Here is a post from Voters for Animal Rights: "We make endorsements based on many factors such as questionnaire, interview, recommendations, background research, win-ability and political landscape. In the race for AG, Zephyr did not reply to the questionnaire. Tish James did, plus she has a long history of taking on tough fights for animal rights such carriage horses and circus animals. In Tish's own words: "I believe our state has the responsibility to go even further by banning puppy mills outright. We should also bar the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores since many of these animals are bred in inhumane conditions. I supported the ban on circus animals -- a measure that I’m proud to say is now law in NYC. And as Attorney General, I will use the powers of the office to support these efforts and more to ensure that the rights of animals are respected in New York State. As Attorney General, I will also push to expand the existing Animal Protection Initiative by seeking authority to not just enforce the Pet Lemon Law and other laws protecting consumers and domestic animals, but also more specific authority to directly enforce animal cruelty laws in New York.""

I voted for Mr. Cuomo. I like Ms. Nixon, but I've had enough of celebrity politicians. I long for an old-fashioned elected official who more or less comes up through the ranks. And I believe, in the hopefully unlikely event that a crisis were to hit New York, that Andrew Cuomo would be the best one to deal with it. Voting for Governor is not just about finding someone who is perfectly in synch with your political views, or even about that tired old idea of sending a message to establishment politicians. It's a bigger job than that. Cuomo is in synch enough with my views, and his experience far outclasses that of his opponent.

Although CN has no significant experience at running anything NY State voters may want to deliver a message to establishment politicians like Cuomo.His failure to personally take responsibility for the false charge that CN was anti-Semitic was cowardly on his part. A full personal apology was required. Voters may be fed up with Cuomo’s sense of entitlement.

The voting station was a complete mess. Nobody knew what was going on and they admitted to not having the slightest clue. Six people couldn't find my name (again), asking me to spell it 15 times!!! Finally someone gave me a democratic affidavid ballot to fill out even though I told them 5 times I'm an Independent. After I filled it out, and asked why didn't they give me an independent affidavit ballot, they first said that Independents are automatically pooled in with Democrats but as I pressed for a better answer the guy finally realized that they were gave me a wrong one. By then it was too late to fill out the right one. In other words... twilight zone. Independent voters were not given the right affidafid ballot and their votes were NOT counted. Absolute disaster!

I prefer Cuomo (who I despise) to be governor over Nixon. None the less I voted for Nixon to send a message to Cuomo that he needs to be pulled to the left. Yup. I voted for Nixon.

I wonder how many others voted for Trump. I added the tag, "crook" in two races.

Here in the South Bronx, very heavy turnout. Had to wait 15 minutes in line. Everyone I spoke with had voted Nixon.

Apparently, extremely low turnout where I voted. One of the poll workers said more people voted in the past when only judges were on the ballot. Could Nixon get a larger percentage than most predict?

Voted hours ago. There were others, but no long line or whatnot. I don't see a Nixon win 'round my area. I've heard not one want her, and the few among the many who live here who've said anything want Cuomo. But anything can happen here. Those who care will vote today, and those who care would rather NOT answer random phone numbers in case they're a poll, lest the spammers bite.

Do these polls adjust for the relative fractions of Republicans/Democrats/Independents that still have landlines?

Upstate New York's polling places don't open until noon?! That's ridiculous.

"The intrigue in New York starts at the top: Can Cynthia Nixon defy the polls and deprive Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of a third nomination?" It's scary to think how we would all be left in the dark if this newspaper didn't suggest such smart and innovative ideas as watching to see who wins an election.

New York has one of the lowest voter turnout in the country because of the lack of early voting, the multiple primaries and the shorter voting hours upstate. Colorado has one of the highest rates because of mail in ballots, early voting, a single primary for both state and federal offices and the ease of registration.

To supplement my previous comment, yes her political experience may be thin, but perhaps that can be a good thing. Just because Trump was a political novice and failed (before he even started) doesn't mean she will. She's not a raving lunatic like he is and has the intelligence and discernment to listen to what constituents need - at least that is what I've learned from her knowing very little about her and not really following her as a celebrity. And I can't say that I identify as a liberal but I appreciate her effort and sincerely think her hard work in the campaign will translate to political office. If you're going to try and compare someone to Trump, I would think Cuomo would be a better analogy given his questionable ETHICS. The Times' editorial itself made a stink about this and yet still endorsed him - I found that hypocritical. Finally, I don't think her background as an actress should be held against her. If she surrounds herself with the right team that can bring her up to speed and compensate for that part of the job, I think she might be able to get some solid progressive policies implemented. My personal interest is in the MTA and expanding subway service and improving ridership. But I'm sure that'll be fixed at around the same time that construction will stop on the BQE...

If nothing else, Nixon's campaign has forced Cuomo to actually act like a democrat instead of softly aligning himself with upstate Republicans. should he be re-elected, cuomo's mandate will be greatly diminished

Funny, if someone contacted me to poll me, I hung up on them. So I’m not counted.

Hoping that progressive candidates do well today, but we have a democracy problem with our vote-counting system. It has been outsourced to a handful of private rightwing companies that count our votes in "secret” with "proprietary software." Is it a coincidence that statistical and pattern evidence from exit polls indicates that vote counts are being shifted to the right? Germany, Ireland, Norway, and the Netherlands went back to counting ballots by hand after realizing the vulnerabilities with computerized voting. In 2009, Germany's Constitutional Court "upheld the basic principle of the public nature of democratic elections" and ruled that the "vote count must be something the public can authenticate." A must-read on computerized voting: https://tinyurl.com/y9xx63f6 “Two major events have paved the way for this lethal form of election manipulation: the mass adoption of computerized voting technology, and the outsourcing of our elections to a handful of corporations that operate in the shadows, with little oversight or accountability. “This privatization of our elections has occurred without public knowledge or consent, leading to one of the most dangerous and least understood crises in the history of American democracy. We have actually lost the ability to verify election results.” Authoritarian governments count their votes in secret, not democracies. Europe Rejects Digital Voting Machines https://tinyurl.com/yczjwo64 #HandCountedBallotsNow

From the cheap seats in Michigan, I'm rooting for Ms. Nixon.

Please everybody, VOTE TODAY! That said, I am deeply concerned about the lack of information available about candidates on the downballot races, such as judges and such. How am I supposed to make an informed vote if I can't find anything about them? I emailed the League of Women Voters. Nada. There must be information about every candidate on the ballot. Another practice I find extremely annoying is when judges run on multiple parties. We deserve a choice!

Polls are increasingly out of touch, partly because cellphones are not listed and many now do not have a landline. Here in Hove last year I did well by betting that it would be a hung Parliament - no overall control. One pollster, Lord Ashcroft, who has spent much of his fortune on polls, had said that if I believed that then there were firms that would give me very good odds. He was duly gracious when my political horse won at 5-1. I had found - partly by standing as a Green candidate at the 2015 Election (I came third and beat the better-funded Ukip) and by looking through key seats - that a hung Parliament was likely - a particular seat being Hastings, where the Home Secretary clung on by 300 votes (I had thought /bet she might lose, as she would have done had there not been a disaffected Labour member standing as an independent and got 500 votes). Such no-overall-control results are being seen across the world. All of which is to say that it looks like being a bumpy night in New York.

Some NYers heading for the primary voting booth are in for a surprise when they are turned away today. Do you know if you hoped to vote in the primary this year, but changed your party affiliation or affiliated yourself with a party for the first time after October 2017, you will not be eligible to vote in this year's primary? NY has one of the most restrictive policies in the nation. My son, who has been registered as an independent for many years, registered as a Democrat for the first time in May and could not vote in the primary. In the age of computers, there is absolutely no excuse for this unless it is to suppress turn out, discourage voting in the primaries and bolster incumbents. No wonder nothing ever changes in Albany--you can't get them out of there.

Wake up every one, it’s election day! The choice is a governor that despite it all is getting things done. Things you can see and experience. Or some one new who has no experience, who wants to double the budget and has no plan on how to pay for all the things she’s offering. But omg, she’s super popular because of the kind of bagels she likes. Your choice, I know mine. The job is Governor of the State of New York. Think about it. NY State is one of the largest world wide economies. Are you turning it over to some one who has no idea of how to finance what she promised, or some one who can and is getting the work done. No one will ever do the job perfectly, no one. Things are better now than when Tamany Hall was running the show, but this is politics, it's a dirty business since those days; idealism only gets you so far. Choose well.

Repubs are dying for Nixon to get the nomination because they think it will provide best shot at reclaiming governorship since 2002. They are right. I’d admire Nixon and hopes this is only the start of her political career, but too much at risk to gamble away Cuomo despite his flaws.

Sean Patrick Maloney is the only real, workable choice for Progressives. The conventional wisdom is that the progressive banner holder in the AG race is Teachout - Why? - because she has all the approved talking points. But the hard truth is that she has never held public office, ran a lousy campaign in NY19 which handed the district to the Republicans, and as an academic, she’s been a member of the NY Bar for less than a month, and has never been in a courtroom or run a law office. The office of AG is not about talk, it’s about experience in actually getting progressive ideas to work in government, and this year, it's essential that our AG agressively defend the rights of New Yorkers against the coming onslaughts of the Trump administration and a rabidly-conservative Supreme Court. The only one who actually has made those policies work is Sean Maloney in his years in Congress. We all want an AG that will fight as if his/her life depends on it. As an openly gay man with a mixed-cultural family, he has more skin in the game than any of the other candidates. If the SC negates gay marriage and shoots down Affirmative Action, the people he loves the most lose the most. No other candidate has as much at stake as Sean and will take the fight more personally. If you believe that it's best to vote on what candidates DO as opposed to what they SAY – then Sean Maloney is the only real choice for a progressive vote.

I don't like Cuomo at all but I do not believe that Nixon is remotely qualified to run this state. Succeeding in Albany involves the ability to compromise, negotiate and influence people. She has no experience doing any of these things, so would be unable to push through any of her agenda. We are fortunate to have a number of great candidates for Attorney General. I'm sorry only one can win - I wish one of them had run for governor as they would be better than Cuomo and Nixon.

There are things about Cuomo that just rub me the wrong way. His shutdown of the Moreland Commission when the corruption probe got too close to his friends in Albany, the conviction of his close ally that Cuomo claims he knew nothing about his corrupt practices (if you're in charge, you are supposed to know everything), the anti-Semitic flyer about Nixon, and the rush job to open the new bridge formerly known as the Tappan Zee (not to mention the naming of the bridge after his father). It's sad because I also don't think Nixon is qualified to handle the job as Governor, either.

Yes, Como is part of the political machine however he hates Trump and has done good things for NY. I like his infrastructure work and he represents the whole state. Nixon has no experience except acting and her campaign seems like she is running for mayor. Compared got my vote.

Mixed feelings about race from here in Philadelphia, but can someone explain why New York seems to have 2 primaries. Wasn't there one a month ago when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off her shocker? Why another one? Another one of those NYC does things one way and the state does it another?

sunzari - good for you, trust your gut. Nixon has done a great job of exposing Cuomo's corruption, and there is much more that will come out as she takes power. This IS the election season to VOTE for change, upset the status quo by electing NIXON. The country looks to your state to lead us out of this mess.

Upstate New York polls open at 12 Noon? Really? Who came up with that absurd and seemingly corrupt plan?

For Lieutenant Governor we must not cast a vote for Jumaane Williams. Although I have voted for him each time that he ran for city council, he has left me utterly disappointed. Mr. Williams, while holding press conferences about problems our district faces has done nothing concrete to help the residents of Flatbush. He is all talk and no action. Numerous emails to his office are regularly ignored. He is Pro-Life. This is not the type of person that we need in Albany.

Those who are thinking about electing a celebrity with no experience for an executive position like governor should recall that voters did that in the vote for the president in 2016 with absolutely disastrous results. We need experience and skills in Albany and sex in the city. Cuomo is the right choice.

I didn't think I'd feel this way but I am actually leaning towards Nixon. There is something fishy and "mafia-esque" about Cuomo's campaign, tactics and overall bravado that I think puts him out of touch with everyday New Yorkers. Ms. Nixon's has her feet in the trenches, and at the very least I will know she will take her role very seriously and not waver from her convictions.