Kamala Harris wins New York as traditional blue state delivers zero surprise in US elections

The result defied the pre-poll survey that suggested a significant decline in support for the Democrats, showing chances of a Trump victory in NYC.

New York City, typically a blue state, tends to support progressive policies, prioritise social justice, and often have urban centers that drive their political agendas.

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This election, New York also recorded the highest number of early voters the city has ever witnessed, NY Daily News reported. More than 1 million voters cast their ballots in the 9-day early voting which kick started on October 26. The city Board of Elections had posted on microblogging site X late on Sunday over the record-breaking early figures, saying “Way to go New York City!”

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Voting in New York city began at 6 am ET on Tuesday (4:30 pm IST) and will close at 9 pm ET (7:30 am IST on Wednesday).

2020 election results: Joe Biden won New York city with a staggering 60.9% votes (51.3% votes nationally), while his Republican rival Donald Trump secured 37.7% votes (46.9% votes nationally).

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Current controversies in New York

A New York Times/Sienna College poll raised eyebrows of those across the US and the world when it revealed that blue state might see a Trump victory. The report noted that though Kamala Harris leads Trump in the overall figures, there was also a representation of a significant decline in support to the Democrats in the city since 2020, when Joe Biden won the state. If Trump had won New York, it would reportedly turn out to be the worst Democratic performance in the city since 1988, NYT reported. The Democrats‘ victory in the New York State in the midterm elections was also a weak sight of performance. The poll report suggested that if the pattern of Republicans winning those states where they performed well in midterm elections is proved true, then it would be very unusual in the history of presidential elections.

Pollsters and massive shift: A veteran GOP strategist, Alex Castellanos, had told Fox News that pollsters showing a neck-and-neck fight between Trump and Harris are not taking into account the wave of enthusiasm in Republicans. “What I think they’re missing is a massive shift in voter registration underneath all of this,” the strategist was cited as saying by NY Post, adding that 30 of the 31 states having party-wise voter registration have seen a shift towards Republicans in the past four years.