For the first time since 1994, both the Republican and Democratic parties each had contested primary elections for the office of New York governor.

Voters registered in both parties delivered results on Tuesday that followed some political norms while also some aspects that break from recent primary history.

Both parties’ standard bearers — Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican Lee Zeldin — prevailed easily over their multiple opponents and will face each other in the general election this fall.

 

Since taking office 10 months ago, Gov. Hochul has gone lengths to distinguish herself from her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo. The primary results from Tuesday add another layer to that. After being unopposed in a primary in his first bid for governor in 2010, Cuomo faced a challenge from progressive candidates in his 2014 and 2018 re-election bids, and while Cuomo defeated them, those challengers were able to put dents in his electoral success.

Hochul also faced a progressive challenger — New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — as well as U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, but Hochul managed to win all 62 of the state’s counties, the first time a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in a contested primary has done so since 2006.

A large swath of those votes came from Erie County, where the Western New York native garnered more than 82% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the New York state Board of Elections. Based on percentage, Hochul also performed well in the Capital Region, which had broken for Zephyr Teachout in 2014 and Cynthia Nixon in 2018 over Cuomo.

Where Hochul, the first upstate governor in a century, appears to have underperformed her predecessor is in vote-rich New York City. Hochul received 52% of the unofficial vote in Brooklyn to Williams’ 38% — the closest margin in the state though still a convincing win. She got 59% of the vote in Queens and 65% in the Bronx. In Tom Suozzi’s Long Island, Hochul bested him by 30-plus points.

 

Republican voters went to the polls for their first contested primary for governor since 2010, and this time, stuck with the party’s designated nominee.

Lee Zeldin, the Long Island congressman who has been campaigning for the role since April 2021, came out 21 points ahead of his closest rival, former Trump administration official Andrew Giuliani, according to the unofficial vote tally. Former Westchester County Executive and 2014 GOP gubernatorial nominee Rob Astorino, and businessman Harry Wilson, came in third and fourth place respectively.

Zeldin swamped his opponents in his home of Long Island, a historically crucial Republican area for statewide races. Zeldin also carried most upstate counties, but unofficial results show that Wilson was able to win several counties in northern New York and parts of the eastern Mohawk Valley. Wilson also notched second in counties in Central New York and the Southern Tier. Some of these counties have not had all precincts reported.

Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, won a plurality of votes in all New York City boroughs, save for Manhattan.

Rob Astorino followed through on what he made as one of his biggest selling points — that he can win in the suburban area north of the city which has trended Democratic or has been much more competitive in recent contests. Astorino won Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties, unofficial results show. He came up short in all other parts of the state.

Zeldin and Hochul go head to head on Nov. 8.

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