Midterms - The New York Edition

What Happened in the Empire State

I thought I’d be able to publish the entire series on the midterms by now, but we can’t have nice things because some states are still counting votes.

New York is also still counting some absentee ballots but aside from one congressional race that Republicans are likely to win and a handful of state legislative seats, most of the races are decided. Hence, it’s worth diving into the data.

Rep. Lee Zeldin came the closest of any non-incumbent Republican to winning the New York governorship since 1994 when Pataki unseated Mario Cuomo. He won 47 percent of the vote, about 10 percent more than Trump just two years ago and 10 percent more than Marc Molinaro four years ago.

Of course, pouring over presidential data for a midterm election is like comparing apples to a refrigerator. So I will focus mainly on the changes from the previous governor’s election and figure out what went right, what went wrong, and where things are going in the Empire State.