Republicans had a strong showing in Long Island’s major races so far. However, not all ballots have been counted and counting them will be a messy process.
Counting the 300,000+ absentee ballots won’t likely start until next week. First election workers have to make sure the voter who mailed in a ballot didn’t show up at the polls and vote on election night as New York law allows.
Right now election officials know the unofficial results from election night, the number of absentee ballots mailed in, and the party affiliation of those ballots. What they don’t know is if those ballots will be voided by an in-person ballot or if, say, a registered Democrat mailed in an absentee ballot for a Republican.
All that said, here’s where some key races stand.
In New York’s First Congressional District, Republican Lee Zeldin has a strong 60,000 vote lead over Democrat Nancy Goroff with 75,000 absentee ballots mailed in. Zeldin has declared victory, Goroff says she’s waiting to be sure all votes are counted.
It's much the same story in New York’s Second Congressional District. Republican Andrew Garbanio has a 40,000 vote lead over Democrat Jackie Gordon. There are some 60,000 absentee ballots received by the boards of election.
Further down the ballot, Republicans have narrow leads in the first, third, and fifth state Senate districts, which can potentially be reversed by the number of absentee ballots mailed back.
In the second state Senate district, Republican Mario Mattera has a lead that exceeds the number of absentee ballots.
