New York’s 2020 congressional primary election results

Six weeks after Election Day, the final lingering races that were still in limbo thanks to close election night results and delays in counting absentee ballots have been officially decided. The New York City Board of Elections finalized its results and Rep. Carolyn Maloney emerged victorious after a nail-biter of an election in the 12th Congressional District representing parts of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres officially became the Democratic nominee in the crowded open race for the 15th Congressional District in the Bronx. Meanwhile, other results – like Rep. Eliot Engel’s loss to Jamaal Bowman in the 16th Congressional District in the Bronx and Westchester County – were cemented with the final vote tally after all the absentee ballots were counted.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Yvette Clarke, who both faced spirited challenges this cycle, also maintained their victories after they came out ahead after the June 23 primary vote. Three Black newcomers – Mondaire Jones, Bowman and Torres – maintained their leads in the final results in the Bronx and Westchester and Rockland counties.

While the coronavirus pandemic positioned the June 23 primary as a test of what widespread mail-in voting could look like in New York, a good number of voters who requested absentee ballots never received them, making them unable to vote or forcing them to vote in person.

But even in the face of these challenges, the pandemic primary carried on, as ballots cast in person in the state’s 24 congressional primary races – and in one special election in the 27th Congressional District – were counted. Because of the pandemic, more than 1.6 million mail-in ballots were requested statewide – more than 10 times the number cast in the 2016 presidential election – and the process of tabulating those ballots took a while.

Matt Rey, a political consultant with Red Horse Strategies, told City & State he expected only 25% to 33% of total votes will be cast in-person, with the rest coming in by mail. That percentage will vary by race, but it meant that it was sometimes hard to draw conclusions based on primary night results alone.

Even so, as the results from ballots cast in-person were reported in June, some candidates celebrated victories. Bowman, the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-like challenger to longtime Rep. Eliot Engel, came out of election night with a hefty lead over Engel and declared himself the victor on June 24. On July 17, The Associated Press declared Bowman the winner.

New York will also be getting some new members of Congress. Rep. Chris Jacobs has already been sworn into Congress after the results of his special election for the 27th Congressional District in Western New York were certified, replacing the disgraced former Rep. Chris Collins. Jacobs also emerged victorious in his Republican primary election for the same seat. In the crowded race to replace retiring Rep. José E. Serrano in the Bronx, Torres pulled ahead of his 11 opponents. Meanwhile, Jones, a former attorney with the Westchester County Law Department, won the Democratic primary in the 17th Congressional District, where Rep. Nita Lowey is retiring.

Meanwhile, on Long Island, Nancy Goroff emerged as the winner in a tight race for the chance to take on Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in November.

In other places, including the 8th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 23rd and 26th districts, no primary was held.

As election returns come in and candidates claim victory, City & State will be updating this tracker. Please note that the results listed below are based on votes cast in person on June 23, and where absentee ballots have been counted as of Aug. 5.

Congressional District 1 – Democratic Primary

Suffolk County

Nancy Goroff: 36.10%

Perry Gershon: 34.77%

Bridget Fleming: 27.57%

Gregory-John Fischer: 1.56%

With 473 of 473 election districts reporting.

Following a very close race for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in November, Nancy Goroff, a chemist, emerged victorious in early July. Goroff won by 600 votes, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections, defeating the top two competitors: Perry Gershon, who ran in 2018 and Bridget Fleming, a Suffolk County legislator. Should Goroff win against Zeldin in November, she would become the first woman in Congress with a science Ph.D.

Congressional District 2 – Republican Primary

Nassau and Suffolk counties

Andrew Garbarino: 60.94%

Michael LiPetri: 38%

With 524 of 524 election districts reporting.

It’s looking like the Long Island Republican machine still has some juice. Assembly Member Andrew Garbarino, backed by the Nassau and Suffolk counties’ Republican committee – and retiring incumbent Rep. Pete King – comfortably beat Assembly Member Mike LiPetri. LiPetri launched an outsider challenge to Garbarino but failed to build the momentum necessary to take King’s crown, deciding to suspend his primary campaign.

Congressional District 2 –Democratic Primary

Nassau and Suffolk counties

Jackie Gordon: 69.95%

Patricia Maher: 26.07%

With 524 of 524 election districts reporting.

Jackie Gordon, a Democrat with national support, will take on Andrew Garbarino in November as she attempts to flip the seat, which has long been held by Rep. Peter King, who is retiring. The Associated Press declared Gordon the winner in the Democratic primary on July 3.

Congressional District 3 – Democratic Primary

Nassau, Suffolk and Queens counties

Thomas Suozzi (incumbent): 56.52%

Melanie D’Arrigo: 32.72%

Michael Weinstock: 7.88%

With 636 of 636 election districts reporting.

Rep. Thomas Suozzi is already looking ahead to another term in Congress after outperforming two primary rivals. 

Congressional District 4 – Republican Primary

Nassau County

Douglas Tuman: 71.97%

Cindy Grosz: 24.36% 

In an easy win, Douglas Tuman defeated Cindy Grosz in the 4th Congressional District on Long Island. Tuman, the commissioner of engineering for the Town of Hempstead, will face Rep. Kathleen Rice in the fall. 

With 652 of 652 election districts reporting.

Congressional District 5 – Democratic Primary

Queens and Nassau counties

Gregory Meeks (incumbent): 73.38%

Shaniyat Chowdhury: 21.21%

With 492 of 492 election districts reporting.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the 22-year incumbent from Southeast Queens, is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and a proud capitalist. He faced an Ocasio-Cortez-style challenge from Chowdhury, a bartender and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. But Chowdhury failed to gain the momentum necessary to topple the Queens County Democratic Party leader, and Meeks is on his way to an easy victory, with The Associated Press already calling the race in his favor.

Congressional District 6 – Democratic Primary

Queens

Grace Meng (incumbent): 65.26%

Melquiades Gagarin: 20.04%

Sandra Choi: 14.35%

With 462 of 462 election districts reporting.

Rep. Grace Meng, the first and only Asian American member of Congress from New York, is on her way to easily win reelection, despite challenges from two other Asian American candidates. The Associated Press has already called the race in her favor.

Congressional District 7 – Democratic Primary

Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens

Nydia Velázquez (incumbent): 79.76%

Paperboy Love Prince: 19.82% 

With 506 of 506 election districts reporting.

Paperboy Love Prince may be a multi-talented millennial, but he was new to the district and unaware of a highly controversial rezoning being considered in it when he launched his campaign. Though absentee ballots have yet to be counted in his bid to unseat longtime Rep. Nydia Velázquez, The Associated Press called the race for Velázquez, who amassed 74% of in-person votes. A 14-term incumbent, Velázquez will hold on to the Democratic nomination in the district, which includes the Lower East Side and much of North Brooklyn and much of the borough’s western waterfront.

Congressional District 9 – Democratic Primary

Brooklyn

Yvette Clarke (incumbent): 54.34% 

Adem Bunkeddeko: 24.57%

Isiah James: 10.33%

Chaim Deutsch: 9.74%

Lutchi Gayot: 0.87%

With 532 of 532 election districts reporting.

When four different candidates are all challenging the same incumbent, the math favors the incumbent. And with all the in-person votes counted in this Central Brooklyn district, seven-term incumbent Rep. Yvette Clarke has a commanding enough lead that The Associated Press called her the winner, a lead she maintained once all the absentee ballots were counted. It seems that 2018, when Bunkeddeko lost to Clarke 53% to 47%, was his best shot to unseat her.

Congressional District 10 – Democratic Primary

Manhattan, Brooklyn

Jerry Nadler (incumbent): 67.34%

Lindsey Boylan: 21.76%

Jonathan Herzog: 10.31%

With 559 of 559 election districts reporting.

Rep. Jerry Nadler will stick around, after all. Despite facing two primary challengers running to his left, Nadler maintained a nearly 36-point lead over his closest competitor as all ballots cast in-person were counted on Tuesday night – and by early July, The Associated Press deemed Nadler the victor.

Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, came closest to unseating the longtime member of Congress from the West Side of Manhattan, while Jonathan Herzog, a 25-year-old running on the Andrew Yang-backed policy of a universal basic income, came in third. Nadler’s victory makes it likely that he’ll also hold onto his powerful role as House Judiciary chair. His lead only grew once the final results were in.

Congressional District 11 – Republican Primary

Staten Island, Brooklyn

Nicole Malliotakis: 68.69%

Joseph Calderera: 30.82%

With 489 of 489 election districts reporting.

Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis has had her eye on higher office for a while – she ran for mayor of New York City in 2017 – and now she’s one step closer to Congress. Malliotakis won more than double the votes that her opponent, Joseph Calderera did, and was declared the winner by The Associated Press. Still, she’ll have to beat incumbent Democratic Rep. Max Rose in November to make it to D.C.

Congressional District 12 – Democratic Primary

Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn

Carolyn Maloney (incumbent): 42.96%

Suraj Patel: 39.22%

Lauren Ashcraft: 13.34%

Peter Harrison: 4.21%

With 569 of 569 election districts reporting.

Six weeks after election day, Rep. Carolyn Maloney has finally, officially, emerged victorious. On Election Day, NYU professor Suraj Patel was within 2 percentage points of the 14-term incumbent. Patel challenged Maloney in 2018 and lost 59% to 40%. This year turned out much closer. After every absentee ballot was counted, Maloney maintained her lead and pulled ahead slightly, cementing her victory. However, Patel filed a lawsuit in order to get more ballots counted, and a judge ruled in his favor. The state Board of Elections intends to appeal the decision, although it’s unlikely to change the results either way. The city Board of Elections did count those extra ballots before certifying the results.

Congressional District 13 – Democratic Primary

Manhattan, Bronx

Adriano Espaillat (incumbent): 58.94%

James Felton Keith: 25.33% 

Ramon Rodriguez: 15.17%

With 551 of 551 election districts reporting.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the two-term incumbent representing Upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx, will be the Democratic nominee in the heavily Democratic 10th Congressional District, The Associated Press reports.

Congressional District 14 – Democratic Primary

Queens, Bronx

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (incumbent): 74.42%

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera: 18.12%

Badrun Khan: 4.98% 

Samuel Sloan: 2.25%

With 449 of 449 election districts reporting.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary in the 14th Congressional District, The Associated Press reported on June 24. It’s not surprising that Ocasio-Cortez drew a handful of Democratic primary challengers this year. As the biggest story to come out of 2018’s primaries after taking down former Rep. Joseph Crowley, Ocasio-Cortez was due for a challenge from a few competitors of her own. Even so, those challengers failed to amass the kind of support necessary to take down the popular – and well-funded – member of Congress. Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, the candidate who amassed the most votes after Ocasio-Cortez, ran to Ocasio-Cortez’s right, attacking her for being a “national celebrity” rather than a representative for the people of Queens and the Bronx.

Congressional District 15 – Democratic Primary

Bronx

Ritchie Torres: 32.10%

Michael Blake: 18.03% 

Rubén Díaz Sr.: 14.39%

Samelys López: 13.91% 

Ydanis Rodriguez: 10.58% 

Melissa Mark-Viverito: 4.31%
Tomas Ramos: 2.42%

Chivona Newsome: 2.30%

Marlene Tapper: 0.66% 

Julio Pabón: 0.41% 

Frangell Basora: 0.32%

Mark Escoffery-Bey: 0.26% 

With 490 of 490 election districts reporting.

The cowboy-hatted New York City Council Member Rubén Díaz Sr.’s power may have been overstated. With all the absentee ballots counted in the South Bronx, Díaz is in a distant third place in this closely watched primary to fill the retiring Rep. José E. Serrano’s seat. His council colleague, Ritchie Torres, massively outraised the crowded field and used that money to flood the district with TV ads, digital ads and supporters on Election Day. It paid off with a comfortable margin of victory among the many candidates after the results were finalized.

Torres stayed humbled in an interview with NY1 on election night. “I’m not prepared to declare victory until every vote is counted, but even if I win the election, it’s governing that matters,” he said. “It’s delivering results for the everyday people of the South Bronx.” Assembly Member Michael Blake, who rolled out an impressive array of endorsements in the last week, is currently in second. Blake, who declined to concede, also alleged that there was “intentional black voter suppression” on Election Day.

Congressional District 16 – Democratic Primary

Bronx, Westchester County

Jamaal Bowman: 55.38%

Eliot Engel (incumbent): 40.55%

Chris Fink: 1.82%

Sammy Ravelo: 1.28%

Andom Ghebreghiorgis: 0.95%

With 732 of 732 election districts reporting.

“Bowmentum” is alive and well in the 16th Congressional District. Middle school principal Jamaal Bowman has defeated 16-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel, winning more than 55% of the vote in this Bronx and Westchester County district. Bowman came out of election night with a strong lead over Engel, and while the counting of absentee ballots in the following weeks narrowed that lead a bit, the insurgent candidate still emerged more than about 15 percentage points ahead of Engel. Though the race was officially called on July 17, Bowman – who was supported by a progressive coalition over the more moderate Engel – declared victory on June 24, releasing a statement saying that “many doubted that we could overcome the power and money of a 31-year incumbent. But the results show that the people of NY-16 aren’t just ready for change – they’re demanding it.”

Congressional District 17 – Democratic Primary

Westchester and Rockland counties

Mondaire Jones: 41.63% 

Adam Schleifer: 16.16% 

Evelyn Farkas: 15.50% 

David Carlucci: 10.98% 

David Buchwald: 8.47% 

Asha Castleberry: 2.62%

Catherine Parker: 1.95% 

Allison Fine: 2.02%

With 398 of 398 election districts reporting.

With the results finalized, former Westchester County Law Department attorney Mondaire Jones has claimed victory in this closely watched race to replace retiring Rep. Nita Lowey. The Associated Press called the race in favor of Jones, who won by more than 25 percentage points over second-place candidate, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Schleifer. The progressive favorite, Jones is likely on his way to becoming, along with Ritchie Torres, the first openly gay Black member of Congress.

Congressional District 17 – Republican Primary

Westchester and Rockland counties

Maureen McArdle Schulman: 76.24%

Yehudis Gottesfeld: 20.98%

With 398 of 398 election districts reporting.

Maureen McArdle Schulman of Westchester County is the likely Republican nominee, although the seat has long been held by a Democrat, the retiring Rep. Nita Lowey.

Congressional District 19 – Republican Primary

Upper Hudson Valley and the Catskills

Kyle Van De Water: 56.99%

Ola Hawatmeh: 42.45%

With 330 of 330 election districts reporting.

Kyle Van De Water, an attorney and Army veteran, was declared the winner by The Associated Press on Tuesday, July 14, over fashion designer Ola Hawatmeh. Van De Water received 57% of the total votes once absentee ballots were counted, despite trailing Hawatmeh by more than 4 percentage points with only in-person ballots. Van De Water is a political novice who has struggled to fundraise, and the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Antonio Delgado, is favored in November despite a majority of the district’s voters backing President Donald Trump in 2016.

Congressional District 22 – Republican Primary

Central New York

Claudia Tenney: 68.80%

George Phillips: 30.06% 

With 484 of 484 election districts reporting.

Former Rep. Claudia Tenney will get another chance to face off against Rep. Anthony Brindisi, who unseated her in 2018 after comfortably winning her Republican primary.

Congressional District 24 – Democratic Primary

Central New York

Dana Balter: 63.01%

Francis Conole: 36.83%

With 297 of 297 election districts reporting.

After winning the Democratic primary, Syracuse University professor Dana Balter is on her way to a rematch against Republican Rep. John Katko. Even before the process of counting absentee ballots began, her opponent Francis Conole conceded the race.

Congressional District 25 – Democratic Primary

Monroe County

Joseph Morelle (incumbent): 68.15% 

Robin Wilt: 31.82% 

With 120 of 120 election districts reporting.

Congressional District 27 – Special Election

Western New York

Chris Jacobs (R): 50.98%

Nate McMurray (D): 47.02%

With 342 of 342 election districts reporting.

Republican Chris Jacobs came out on top in what turned out to be a surprisingly close special election in the reddest congressional district in the state. The Associated Press early on called the special election to replace former Rep. Chris Collins – who pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading last fall – for Jacobs. Jacobs carried a nearly 40-point lead over Democrat Nate McMurray after election night. But McMurray narrowed that gap significantly to just 4 percentage points in the final results after absentee ballots were counted. Still, Jacobs has already been sworn into office, giving him the benefit of incumbency in the November rematch.

Congressional District 27 – Republican Primary

Western New York

Chris Jacobs: 59%

Beth Parlato: 21.75%

Stefan Mychajilw Jr.: 18.58%

With 313 of 313 election districts reporting.

The Associated Press called the Republican primary in the 27th District for Jacobs, who won by almost 40 percentage points. 

Congressional District 27 – Libertarian Primary

Western New York

Duane Whitmer: 75.20%

Nicholas Phelps: 24.80%

With 309 of 309 election districts reporting.

Sources: New York State Board of Elections, Suffolk County Board of Elections, New York City Board of Elections, Westchester County Board of Elections, Rockland County Board of Elections, Columbia County Board of Elections, Delaware County Board of Elections, Greene County Board of Elections, Otsego County Board of Elections, Schoharie County Board of Elections, Sullivan County Board of Elections, Ulster County Board of Elections, Broome County Board of Elections, Dutchess County Board of Elections, Montgomery County Board of Elections, Rensselaer County Board of Elections, Monroe County Board of Elections