Election Day Reside Updates: Virginia Turnout Seems Excessive; Consequence Is Anticipated to Sign Nation’s Temper

Nov. 2, 2021, 6:29 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 6:29 p.m. ETReporting from Boston
Many Boston voters cited the necessity for reasonably priced housing. “A lot of people realize they won’t be able to live in this city in 10 years if this continues,” stated Andrew Conant, 28.
Nov. 2, 2021, 6:26 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 6:26 p.m. ET
Count on it to be a late evening in Virginia. And presumably a protracted week.
In 2020, President Biden gained the state by 10 share factors, and the race wasn’t referred to as till properly after midnight. Nobody expects the margin of victory for both Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate, or Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate, to achieve double digits, which means a big share of the vote complete will seemingly should be counted earlier than it’s clear who gained.
If the margin iis fewer than 10,000 votes, Virginians could have to attend just a few days. The state requires that each one mail ballots postmarked by Election Day be counted if they’re acquired by the next Friday at midday. In 2020, the rely included 10,901 ballots that fell in that post-Election Day window.
And as voters navigate the comparatively new early voting course of, each campaigns anticipate an uptick in provisional ballots, which can also take days to be counted.
The state has made some enhancements because the 2020 election.
Counties at the moment are required to organize their early absentee ballots for processing, which means the ballots could be opened, checked for eligibility and scanned as much as every week earlier than Election Day. That’s seemingly to assist alleviate the kind of bottlenecks in tabulating absentee votes that delayed the 2020 vote rely.
So whereas it could take time for outcomes to be counted, Virginia shouldn’t be anticipated to repeat what occurred in Pennsylvania in 2020, when election officers have been restricted by regulation from getting a head begin on processing early votes, resulting in a delay in counting.
New York
In New York Metropolis, voters will seemingly not have to attend lengthy in any respect. Eric Adams, the Democratic candidate, is the overwhelming favourite within the race to succeed Mayor Invoice de Blasio, and the election is anticipated to be referred to as early within the evening.
However for Metropolis Council seats and different nearer races, the outcomes might take a while. The New York Metropolis Board of Elections has not had a current historical past of well timed outcomes or orderly counting. It took weeks for the company to launch licensed election leads to practically all of the races after the first in June.
New Jersey
New Jersey expanded early voting this yr and might anticipate an election evening as swift because the one in New York. Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, has been sustaining a double-digit lead in his re-election bid for a lot of the yr. Although that lead has waned barely, there has not been any main swings to point a shift in help.
The state has additionally seen regular early voting, with practically 500,000 individuals voting by mail as of Thursday. All these votes could be ready and prepared for tabulation on Election Day.
Atlanta
In Atlanta, the race to exchange Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms — who determined to not search re-election — is sort of definitely headed to a runoff election. It could take late into the evening to be taught which candidates make it to the runoff.
Boston
The race that can give Boston its first feminine mayor seems headed to an early evening. Michelle Wu has maintained a big lead over her opponent, Annissa Essaibi George, with current polling from Suffolk College displaying Ms. Wu with a 32-point benefit.
Nov. 2, 2021, 6:10 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 6:10 p.m. ET
Together with the governor’s contest, Virginians on Tuesday will individually select a lieutenant governor, an lawyer normal and all 100 members of the state’s Home of Delegates.
The brand new lieutenant governor, who’s elected independently from the highest of the ticket, will make historical past as the primary lady to carry the workplace. Each main candidates are additionally individuals of coloration. The Democrat, Hala Ayala, is a two-term delegate from Prince William County who’s of Salvadoran and Lebanese descent. The Republican, Winsome Sears, is a Black businesswoman who served one time period within the Home of Delegates twenty years in the past.
The state’s lawyer normal, Mark R. Herring, is a Democrat in search of his third time period in workplace. Mr. Herring was extensively anticipated to run for governor this yr earlier than it emerged that he, like Gov. Ralph Northam, had worn blackface throughout his faculty years.
Mr. Herring faces Jason Miyares, a Republican delegate from Virginia Seaside and the son of a Cuban immigrant.
Democrats maintain a 55 to 45 majority within the Home of Delegates, although Republicans are optimistic they’ll take again the bulk that Democrats gained within the state’s 2019 elections. The final two years marked the primary time in a technology that Democrats held unified management of Virginia’s state authorities.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:53 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:53 p.m. ET
When voting started this morning, practically 1.2 million Virginians had already forged ballots. By comparability, 2.6 million voters turned out in 2017, the final time the state picked its governor.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:53 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:53 p.m. ET
There are a number of fascinating mayor’s races nationwide that pit extra progressive versus extra reasonable Democrats, together with in Boston, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Buffalo
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:42 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:42 p.m. ET
On a consequential Election Day in Virginia, voters in Richmond are deciding on Tuesday on a hotly contested poll measure that would outcome within the nation’s solely Black-owned on line casino.
The proposed playing facility would price greater than $500 million and be situated on Richmond’s South Facet, in a predominantly Black space that has lengthy struggled with financial growth.
Proponents of the on line casino argue that it might spur job creation and additional enterprise funding. Its critics say that it might siphon cash from low-income residents whereas introducing different issues reminiscent of visitors congestion, late-night revelry and elevated crime.
The on line casino could be owned by City One, a media group that caters to Black audiences and owns a number of radio and tv stations. The mission has been supported by Richmond’s mayor, a majority of Metropolis Council members, Gov. Ralph Northam and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who’s in search of to be elected governor as soon as extra on Tuesday.
Simply this week, the rapper and producer Missy Elliott, a Virginia native, urged voters to again the mission. The singer Anthony Hamilton additionally despatched a message to his followers this week.
Even outdoors Richmond, some voters stated the end result of the on line casino referendum was their foremost concern. William Joyner, 54, who voted in Newport Information, stated he hoped the power could be constructed.
“We’re all looking to Richmond,” he stated. “A Black-owned casino? Just think if that was here.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:21 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:21 p.m. ET
MINNEAPOLIS — When Minneapolis was overwhelmed by protests final yr after a police officer murdered George Floyd, Jacob Frey grew to become one of many nation’s most seen mayors.
On Tuesday, Mr. Frey and his imaginative and prescient for policing have been each on the poll. Voters weren’t solely deciding whether or not to present the mayor a second time period, but in addition whether or not to exchange the Minneapolis Police Division with a brand new public security company.
Mr. Frey, who was heckled by protesters final yr after rejecting calls to defund the police, has campaigned on the problem. Policing, he has argued, must be improved, however changing the complete division could be counterproductive, particularly at a time when violent crime is rising.
“When you tell the truth,” Mr. Frey stated Tuesday earlier than a lunchtime cease at an Japanese European deli. “You don’t cave and you keep an honest and steady approach, and chart a progressive path, people over time respect it and value it.”
Mr. Frey and his best-known challengers are all Democrats, however they’ve been sharply divided over the query of whether or not the Minneapolis Police Division is price salvaging. Kate Knuth, a former state lawmaker working in opposition to Mr. Frey, has argued for a clear break with the present policing construction, calling for it to get replaced with a brand new public health-focused company.
“I’ve been very clear: My vision of the Department of Public Safety absolutely includes police,” Ms. Knuth stated after canvassing a dorm on the College of Minnesota. “But we need to dig in and not ask the police to do the things we don’t need them to do.”
One other mayoral candidate, Sheila Nezhad, who determined to run for mayor after working as a road medic throughout final yr’s protests, stated the election had the potential to ship a nationwide message about the necessity to rethink security and regulation enforcement.
“Today, we’re really choosing the future of public safety,” Ms. Nezhad stated as she waved to voters at an intersection on the town’s South Facet. “We get to choose stepping forward into a world with more safety, more justice, away from the violent system of policing that has encompassed Minneapolis for 154 years.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:19 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:19 p.m. ET
Minneapolis will resolve whether or not to maintain or change its long-troubled Police Division. I’m to see returns in North Minneapolis, which has excessive charges of gun violence and the place many individuals need extra police.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:19 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:19 p.m. ETReporting from Richmond
In Richmond, Va., a deep blue metropolis, voters discovered some ways to say they’re nervous: “I’m really on pins and needles.’’ “I was hoping we’d be up by a higher margin.” “My anxiety level is high.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:13 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:13 p.m. ET
One candidate for governor stands aside in a crimson vest amid a sea of males in fits strolling like zombies, desirous to proclaim himself an outsider.
The opposite seems in a go well with with a lapel pin match for a governor, a proud former official touting a monitor report of feat in authorities.
The closing adverts from the McAuliffe and Youngkin campaigns aren’t the overly emotive pitches so widespread in campaigns greedy for a connection within the homestretch of a protracted election. As an alternative, the adverts are fast distillations of probably the most fundamental distinctions between the 2 candidates: a former well-liked governor, or a rising outsider.
The advert by Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate, focuses on three conservative points animating the bottom of the social gathering and bleeding into reasonable voters’ issues: public security, schooling and decrease taxes.
Although the marketing campaign has centered on a caustic debate over masks mandates and how one can train racism in colleges, Mr. Youngkin solely makes a passing reference to those points by lamenting “more government control.” As an alternative, he touches on crime, as a regulation enforcement officer is proven wading by the suited politicians to get to the entrance.
The candidate’s voice drives the advert. However the zombie politicians and Mr. Youngkin’s supporters get nearly as a lot display screen time as he does.
Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate, seems first in his advert. He focuses the primary half on bipartisanship and his report as governor from 2013 to 2017, boasting of “moving Virginia forward” by job creation and funding in schooling.
However the former governor pivots midway by to speak about two key points in his marketing campaign: abortion rights and schooling funding.
Very like an deal with from a sitting official, the closing advert from the McAuliffe marketing campaign gives a sort of response to the Youngkin advert. Mr. McAuliffe appears to proudly declare the mantle of a former elected official, conveying the message that he’s extra ready for achievement than an outsider.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:08 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:08 p.m. ET
Elliot deBruyn and
- By Elliot deBruyn and Niko Koppel
- By Elliot deBruyn and Niko Koppel
- By Elliot deBruyn and Niko Koppel
We spoke to residents of Chesterfield County, Va., in regards to the points that matter to them. This county was a Republican stronghold for 72 years till it turned blue in 2020.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:04 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:04 p.m. ET
Issues about voter turnout in New Jersey already had each campaigns for governor in overdrive. Then there have been stories of tech snags that led to strains of annoyed voters.
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:04 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 5:04 p.m. ETReporting from Virginia
Youngkin has managed to maintain Trump at an arm’s size. If he wins, “Never Trump’’ Republicans and moderates will argue that Virginia is their new template. And Trump will likely claim victory.
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:57 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:57 p.m. ET
BOSTON — Few of Boston’s policy dilemmas have been more thoroughly picked apart during its mayoral campaign than “Mass and Cass,” a sidewalk encampment of round 400 individuals, most scuffling with drug addictions and psychological sickness.
The tent metropolis, which took its title from its location on the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, provided some lodging for energetic drug customers: The police tolerated open drug use, charitable teams distributed meals and clear needles, and when somebody overdosed, they might be shortly revived with Narcan.
Because the tent metropolis swelled in current months, although, it became wilder and more dangerous, the positioning of prostitution and violent crime. And intense consideration fell on it in the course of the mayoral marketing campaign, as candidates debated whether or not its inhabitants needs to be compelled to depart.
City Hall’s conclusion was sure. Two weeks in the past, Mayor Kim Janey announced that the tents could be cleared, and their inhabitants provided locations at homeless shelters or referred to different companies.
On the eve of the election, Bruce Perez, 34, a former Marine who had been dwelling within the camp, was dumping his neighbors’ sodden possessions right into a trash bin with a grim expression.
“They gave us Mass Ave. for a certain period of time — literally you were shooting up right in front of cops,” he stated. “The crazy thing is, now they have decided to take it back.”
Mr. Perez wasn’t positive the place his neighbors would find yourself, however he predicted that three-quarters of them would gravitate again to the streets ultimately. A couple of, who had excellent warrants, have been introduced earlier than judges, and from there to jails or remedy amenities. Ms. Janey introduced on Monday that 17 of the tent dwellers had “pathways to transitional housing.”
Others simply scattered. Christie Joubert, a volunteer outreach employee, stated some had instructed her they have been “going into the woods in Cambridge,” and others “to find a train station.”
“What you can’t do is sprinkle disappearing ink on people,” she stated. “Do we want them out there overdosing, or do we want them here?”
Drug regulation enforcement is usually tied to political cycles, stated Leo Beletsky, a Northeastern College regulation professor who makes a speciality of drug coverage and public well being. He described the bursts of exercise as “a little bit of theater to demonstrate that decision makers are being decisive and action-oriented” and stated that assets could be higher spent bettering current remedy choices.
“The response is that we have to force them into these services, instead of asking, ‘How do we make these services better?’” he stated.
Tasha Moncrief, whose 28-year-old son had been dwelling within the tent metropolis, has lengthy argued that the town ought to clear the camp, which she says creates an “enabling cycle” by offering customers with meals, shelter and drug paraphernalia. She coaxed him into leaving the camp on Friday, and spent the weekend making an attempt to confess him to a hospital, securing one on Monday.
She, too, was distressed as she watched the tent dwellers — acquainted faces — disperse. She wasn’t positive they’d be higher off.
“They’re going to be somewhere,” she stated. “They’re just not going to be at Mass and Cass.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:50 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:50 p.m. ET
There are indicators of excessive turnout in Virginia, however not many clues about who could profit. Excessive turnout is assumed to assist Democrats, however Republicans stand to achieve if extra white, working class voters go to the polls.
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:49 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:49 p.m. ET
In Connecticut’s quickest rising metropolis, one of many two mayoral contenders acquired an endorsement from Barack Obama, burnishing a listing of credentials that features a diploma from Harvard, 4 phrases within the Legislature and a stint as a particular initiatives director for the Division of Homeland Safety.
However that contender, Caroline Simmons, 35, a Democrat vying to turn out to be the primary feminine mayor of Stamford, is dealing with a uniquely vexing impediment in Tuesday’s election, a star candidate with title recognition that extends far past Interstate 95: Bobby Valentine.
It’s a reputation that wants no introduction to sports activities followers, even practically twenty years after Mr. Valentine managed the New York Mets, together with a World Sequence loss to the Yankees.
Dubbed “Bobby V” in tabloid headlines, he as soon as disguised himself with a fake mustache within the Mets dugout after being ejected from a sport. He additionally claims to have invented the sandwich wrap.
Mr. Valentine, 71, who lasted only one season in 2012 because the supervisor of the Boston Purple Sox, has by no means held elective workplace.
He’s an unaffiliated candidate, and made it on the poll by getting 188 signatures on a petition — 1 % of the voters within the final election. However his outsize presence, which incorporates his personal hip-hop jingle telling voters the place to seek out him on the poll (on Row F “so fresh”) has drawn nationwide intrigue and an inflow of cash to the race.
Democrats, who’ve managed the mayor’s workplace for all however 4 of the previous 26 years in Stamford, the state’s second-largest metropolis after Bridgeport, ratcheted up their criticism of Mr. Valentine within the remaining weeks of the marketing campaign.
They drew consideration to a video of Mr. Valentine telling supporters, “If you’re not owning, you’re not caring,” which they stated was a put-down of renters within the metropolis of 135,000 individuals. Democrats additionally panned Mr. Valentine over a lawsuit he filed in state Superior Courtroom in 2020 in opposition to the town of Stamford, contesting his property tax evaluation for 2019.
Most not too long ago, Ms. Simmons and her supporters rebuked Mr. Valentine for referring to her as “a 35-year-old girl” in an interview with The Associated Press, a reference they stated was misogynistic.
Final week, Mr. Valentine sought to contextualize the remark. “When I said that my competition was a girl,” he told WNPR, “I was referring to her private education in a neighboring city when she was in elementary school, junior high school and high school, and if I offended anyone by mentioning her hometown or that she was referred to as a girl when she was in high school, I totally apologize for that.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:47 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:47 p.m. ET
In a single final push for votes, challengers and incumbents greeted supporters and forged their ballots on the ultimate day of their campaigns for mayor.
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:42 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:42 p.m. ET

Early numbers are suggesting a excessive turnout in Virginia, the place the governor’s race is without doubt one of the most hotly contested in current reminiscence.
When voting started this morning, nearly 1.2 million Virginians had already cast their ballots. By comparability, 2.6 million voters turned out in the course of the 2017 election, the final time the state picked its governor — a turnout of roughly 48 % of all registered voters.
Though there’s nonetheless time for voting to decelerate — and rain was falling in some components of the state on Tuesday afternoon — to date practically each county seems on monitor to exceed 2017 turnout.
Through the presidential race final yr, roughly 75 % of registered voters within the state confirmed up on the polls. Democrats have overtly fearful that low voter enthusiasm would end in dampened turnout, significantly within the suburbs, which they’ve relied on for current election wins.
In Fairfax County, nearly half of all registered voters had forged a poll by 4 p.m., three hours earlier than polls closed. In Alexandria, roughly 42 % of registered voters had voted by midday. Charlottesville noticed the same turnout price, with voting choosing up considerably within the afternoon.
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:40 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:40 p.m. ET
Justin A. Morris and
RAMSEY, N.J. — Final yr, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Bridget Anne Kelly, an aide to former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey who was implicated within the “Bridgegate” scandal that snarled visitors on the world’s busiest bridge.
Ms. Kelly stated on the time that she felt as if she had been given again her title.
On Tuesday, her title appeared on election ballots in Bergen County, N.J., unencumbered by any label aside from Republican as she tries to make a political comeback.
Ms. Kelly, 49, is working for county clerk, a far-reaching administrative place that includes recording and sustaining data, facilitating marriages and working elections.
“Bridgegate will always be a part of my life,” Ms. Kelly, a mom of 4, stated after voting Tuesday morning. “It upended my life, and my family, for years — changed us dramatically.”
Ms. Kelly despatched the notorious email — “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” — that led to the closure of entry lanes to the George Washington Bridge. It was a weird scheme that was meant to punish one in every of Mr. Christie’s Democratic political opponents, and it ended up creating 4 days of visitors jams that posed dangers to public security.
Ms. Kelly, who was convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud at a federal trial and sentenced to 13 months in jail, has stated she was a “scapegoat” within the plot that in the end helped doom Mr. Christie’s presidential ambitions.
The Supreme Courtroom, in a unanimous ruling, concluded that the scheme was an abuse of energy, however not a federal crime, enabling Ms. Kelly to keep away from jail time.
Bergen County is New Jersey’s most populous county and one in every of its most closely Democratic areas, which meant Ms. Kelly’s marketing campaign as a Republican was at all times an uphill pursuit.
In an unsubtle salvo, her opponent, John S. Hogan, a Democrat vying for re-election as clerk, introduced his marketing campaign close to the George Washington Bridge. Polls in New Jersey shut at 8 p.m.
Ms. Kelly stated that she hoped her candidacy, irrespective of the end result, would supply an instance of perseverance.
“I hope I can be an example for women,” she stated, “and show they can find strength from adversity, and find a way to get through something that may seem never-ending.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:37 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:37 p.m. ETReporting from Virginia Seaside
An outdated enemy is threatening the ultimate hours of voting in Virginia: climate. Officers are eyeing rising possibilities of rain and lightning in a number of the state’s metro areas.
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:29 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:29 p.m. ET
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Amid overcast skies and hints of rain, Black Virginians within the state’s coastal areas forged their ballots on Tuesday within the carefully watched election for governor that pits former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, in opposition to a Republican businessman, Glenn Youngkin.
For a lot of the day, there have been no strains at Newport Information Metropolis Corridor, an indication of what number of voters had participated in early voting or used an absentee poll, two measures that have been expanded final yr amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, among the many Black voters who did vote in individual Tuesday, many stated they understood that the nationwide highlight was on the state as a possible bellwether for subsequent yr’s midterm elections.
“They’re going to look to us,” stated Tony McCright, a 68-year-old retiree who voted Tuesday afternoon. “So we have to step up.”
Newport Information, the fifth-largest metropolis within the state and a hub of Black voters, has typically been a Democratic stronghold the place liberal candidates can run up their vote tallies to offset extra conservative, rural areas. Elected officers within the area stated they anticipated robust turnout once more this cycle, however that particular numbers have been tougher to gauge, contemplating using absentee ballots and early voting.
Ashante Holden, 31, stated she backed Mr. McAuliffe as a result of she is fearful about apathy amongst her household and mates.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve heard of people — a guy friend and my sister — who don’t want to vote,” Ms. Holden stated. “They just feel like nothing changes and that Democrats haven’t been delivering for them.”
William Joyner, 54, stated he trusts Mr. McAuliffe, a former governor who carried out properly with Black voters in earlier elections. However he understands the skepticism from others.
“Republicans excite their base,” Mr. Joyner stated. “And it never seems like Democrats follow through enough to get us excited.”
However Mr. Joyner additionally stated that he was assured Mr. McAuliffe and Democrats would prevail, even by a small quantity. He stated he has heard extra individuals discuss in regards to the race in current weeks — giving him hope of a groundswell of enthusiasm.
“People want to be sold on dreams,” he stated. “That’s what Democrats needed to do. Help us believe.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:24 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:24 p.m. ET
The competition between Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa is one thing of a fait accompli. In New York Metropolis, the place Democrats far outnumber Republicans, Adams is anticipated to win. The query is, by how a lot.
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:11 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 4:11 p.m. ET
From New York Metropolis to Atlanta, individuals took to the polls on Tuesday to vote in races huge (governors) and small (native faculty boards).
Nov. 2, 2021, 3:55 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 3:55 p.m. ET
ATLANTA — Kasim Reed, Atlanta’s polarizing former mayor, is again within the hunt for a 3rd time period with an unconventional pitch: He’s asking voters to look previous whether or not they like him and as a substitute have a look at whether or not he can repair their metropolis’s unsettling violent crime drawback.
“I may not be the person you want to have a beer with,” Mr. Reed stated in an October debate. “But I am the person who can get you home to have a beer with the person you want to have it with.”
Mr. Reed is one in every of 5 main candidates vying for the place after the present mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, introduced in Could that she wouldn’t search a second time period. Like Mr. Reed, the opposite high candidates within the nonpartisan race — Felicia Moore, the Metropolis Council president; Sharon Homosexual, a lawyer; and two council members, Andre Dickens and Antonio Brown — are all liberals. And like Mr. Reed, all have promised to repair the crime drawback whereas working to make sure that the rights of residents, significantly individuals of coloration, are revered by the police.
If no candidate receives a majority of the vote on Tuesday, the highest two performers will head right into a runoff scheduled for Nov. 30. A poll of likely voters, commissioned by The Atlanta Journal-Structure and launched on Oct. 21, confirmed Ms. Moore main the pack with about 24 % help, placing her barely forward of Mr. Reed, with about 20 %. However pollsters famous that the lead was inside the ballot’s margin of error.
The corruption drawback that plagued Mr. Reed’s administration is the principle cudgel Ms. Moore and others are wielding in opposition to him. Three figures in his administration have pleaded responsible to federal crimes, and three extra are awaiting trial.
Mr. Reed’s huge guess, as he mounts what has so far been a exceptional comeback bid, is that voters will settle for his argument that he’s the one candidate within the race who will know how one can manipulate the levers and buttons of metropolis authorities from Day 1.
If Ms. Moore and Mr. Reed find yourself in a runoff, as polling suggests, Ms. Moore must hope that Mr. Reed is extra notorious than well-known, and that voters will heed the instructions of a billboard that went up not too long ago, sponsored by a gaggle referred to as Atlantans Preventing Corruption: “Elect anybody,” it reads, “but Kasim Reed for mayor.”
Nov. 2, 2021, 3:51 p.m. ET
Nov. 2, 2021, 3:51 p.m. ET
After a prolonged, bitter main constrained by the coronavirus and a contentious general-election marketing campaign, New Yorkers went to the polls on Tuesday to select a mayor to steer the nation’s largest metropolis out of the throes of the pandemic and into a brand new political period.
After eight years below Mayor Invoice de Blasio, voters are selecting between two candidates with sharply distinct visions: Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee and a former police officer who’s at the moment Brooklyn’s borough president; and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican founding father of the Guardian Angels, who has by no means held public workplace.
Mr. Adams, who has run a marketing campaign tightly focused on public security, is closely favored in a metropolis the place Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans.
Many citizens throughout the town stated that his perspective on security and crime — he has hyperlinks to cops however has stated repeatedly that he pressed for reforms from inside the system — had gained him their help.
Carmen Nunez, 69, of Ozone Park, Queens, stated she believed that Mr. Adams was one of the best candidate to handle security issues. Others stated he appeared to have a powerful understanding of the heart beat of the town.
“The way that he spoke, he seemed to represent a lot of New Yorkers,” stated Julia Yarwood, a 35-year-old Bronx resident who stated she was a Democrat.
If he wins, Mr. Adams would be the metropolis’s second Black mayor. He has promised to steer New York in a extra equitable route, pointing to his working-class roots to recommend he could be an advocate for problems with concern to much less prosperous New Yorkers.
Nonetheless, in distinction to the message of financial populism Mr. de Blasio rode to victory in 2013 and 2017 (he’s prevented by time period limits from working once more), Mr. Adams has made explicit overtures to big-business leaders, arguing that they too have a major position to play within the metropolis’s restoration.
After voting in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Tuesday, Mr. Adams wiped away tears.
“Because I’m standing here, everyday New Yorkers are going to realize they deserve the right to stand in this city also,” he stated. “This is for the little guy.”
Mr. Sliwa has additionally been keenly centered on public security and addressing homelessness, however on different issues and definitely in persona, he and Mr. Adams have vital variations.
Mr. Sliwa’s marketing campaign has additionally been marked by antics and eccentricities that usually drew extra consideration than his coverage positions. His journey to the polls on Tuesday grew right into a fracas when he tried to deliver one of his many cats with him to vote, then fought with election officers who requested him to take away his crimson marketing campaign jacket once they deemed it was a violation of electioneering guidelines.
Mr. Sliwa, a longtime discuss radio host, has lengthy lower a big determine in New York, with some remembering him fondly from his fame as against the law fighter in the course of the early days of the Guardian Angels. Throughout his marketing campaign, he has sought to attract a distinction with Mr. Adams, whom he has referred to as elitist.
“He’s from the streets, he knows the reality of what is going on,” stated Nancy Aldrich, a 59-year-old Queens resident who stated she was a Republican. “He doesn’t blow smoke in your eyes.”
Mr. Sliwa has highlighted still-simmering questions round Mr. Adams’s residency and his financial dealings. He has additionally tried to capitalize on anger in some corners of the town round vaccine mandates.
That dynamic, coupled with the potential of low voter turnout, has injected a measure of uncertainty into the ultimate hours of the race.
Different key races have provided extra drama, together with several City Council elections the place Republicans are combating to carry, if not develop, their three spots within the 51-member physique.
Throughout the state, a hotly contested rematch in the Buffalo mayor’s race and a struggle for district attorney on Long Island additionally illustrate nationwide struggles over public security and legal justice reform. Taken collectively, the outcomes on Tuesday could supply a snapshot of the tensions over the direction and identity of the Democratic Party in New York.
Julianne McShane and James Thomas contributed reporting.