Small turnout on Long Island, big impact in primary elections

WASHINGTON — Long Islanders have picked   their party favorites in races for congressional seats and state comptroller this primary election as polls officially closed Tuesday throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.

While party primaries often don't attract big voter turnouts, these races could have potentially significant impacts, including which party takes the majority in the 435-seat House, which Republicans now control by a narrow margin.

"I’d be surprised if the turnout wasn’t more like the typical school budget vote, straining to get very deeply into double digits," predicted Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, of the percentages of registered Republicans and Democrats in Nassau and Suffolk counties who will be voting.

Throughout most of Tuesday, Long Islanders took to their local poll site to cast ballots for candidates vying for congressional seats, the state comptroller and other local races (a full breakdown of who's on the primary ballot can be found here). The primary came after nine days of early voting. 

Voter turnout throughout Tuesday was low  at multiple polling sites visited by Newsday.

Less than a handful of people were observed walking in or out of polling locations in Great Neck, including the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Company 4 and Company 3 stations and the Russell Gardens Village Hall.

The sites are in the 3rd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Tom Suozzi.

Lorraine Topps, 70, voted at the Company 3 station. She said she "votes for everything."

She added, "This is standard procedure for me. There is so much going on right now, I feel it is important for everybody to vote."

In Massapequa, voting had also gotten off to a slow start Tuesday at the Unqua Elementary School, Berner Middle School and Marjorie R. Post Community Center. One volunteer at the community center said no eligible voters showed up between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.

"Each of the four people that came in were Republicans, and they couldn’t vote," Catherine J. Nieves, 70, said. "They didn't understand that it was just a Democratic primary."

The community center is located in New York’s 2nd congressional district, where Republican incumbent Andrew Garbarino is not facing any primary challengers. His Democratic challenger, Patrick Halpin, was also running unopposed in the primary.

Nieves, who cast a ballot Tuesday, said "surviving Donald Trump" guided her primary vote for state comptroller.

"I really don't know if that's possible because he's dismantled so much of the systems that we've relied on as a country and it still befuddles me that so many people could believe him," Nieves said. She added, "To measure a society is how it takes care of the weakest among us, and there's no interest in that."

Outside the Walt Whitman School in Woodbury, Brendan and Ann Boyce jointly cast their ballots. The pair is originally from Scotland, arriving to the U.S. in 1986.

"It's a privilege to be able to vote," Brendan, 76, said. "And we became American citizens so that we could vote, and it's important to get out and make sure that you have the people you want to represent you in government. And they don't get elected if you don't vote."

Ann, 78, agreed, saying voters should cast ballots "to get the government you would like to have." 

While Ann said political divisions are an issue on Long Island, finding it "dislikable and divisive," Brendan viewed high taxes as a problem facing the Island. 

A couple from Old Brookville, Rozaliya and Vladimir Vernikov, who immigrated to the U.S. from the U.S. in 1987, called voting an "obligation." For Vladimir, international issues and the economy were key concerns for him.

In East Setauket, about a dozen voters appeared at Minnesauke Elementary School after the workday ended to cast their ballots in the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary.

While off-year elections draw fewer voters than presidential election years, Caroline Rivard said she hopes her fellow Long Islanders are "a little bit more galvanized to get out there."

"Me and my friends were texting each other, keeping each other accountable, saying ‘make sure you go out and vote,’" Rivard, 24, of East Setauket, said. "It doesn’t take a lot of time."

Immigration ranks as a major issue that inspired her to vote on Tuesday. She described the actions of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minneapolis and other American cities as "inhumane."

"I’m not sure how much sway this will have," she said of her vote’s impact on federal immigration polices. "I’m just hoping to do what I can to make changes."

Perhaps the issue that hits closest to home for Rivard is the struggle to afford housing. Rivard, a hairstylist, currently lives with her parents.

"Most people I know are making the most money they’ve ever made yet they’re the poorest they’ve ever been," she said. "The rent right now is unattainable."

As he walked into the elementary school about 6 p.m., Jared O’Moore-Klopf entered to vote with the hope that he could help get "corporate investment money out of politics." While he worries all business sectors donate funds to sway regulatory decisions, he is most concerned about such influence in the burgeoning artificial intelligence sector.

"It’s not in their interest to be regulated," O’Moore-Klopf, 24, of East Setauket, said of AI developers. "That lack of regulation can cause increased power costs for us, problems with public safety, privacy."

Lola Zummo waited several minutes behind the wheel of her SUV for her mother to park behind her and join her in voting at P.J. Gelinas Middle School. Her mother, Lauren Zummo, arrived as it rained steadily with her two younger daughters to instill in them the importance of voting in every election.

"I try to tell them the importance of voting and making sure their voice is heard," Lola, 23, of East Setauket, said. Her mother, 58, of East Setauket, added, "I'm trying to raise confident, determined young women, and I want to teach them that if you don't vote, how can you have a say in changing the future?"

For Lauren, her desire to vote was rooted not only in the future, but the past.

"We're moving backwards in reproductive rights," she said. "It's unimaginable at my age that I now have to fight for these rights for my daughters."

In addition to reproductive rights, economic concerns, from local high housing costs to "affordability for the average American," brought Lola to her polling site, she said. Among the costs that are too high, she added, are "housing, food costs and everything associated with raising a family in Suffolk County."

In early voting, 16,480 people cast ballots in Nassau and 6,721 in Suffolk.

Primary winners in each race move on to become the official party nominee for the November general election.

Newsday staff reporters Nicholas Grasso, Victor Menendez, Angelina Livigni and Nora Toscano contributed to this report.