Quantcast

Everything you need to know ahead of the Aug. 23 primary election in Brooklyn

voters in booths primary election
The second half of New York’s primary election is coming up on Aug. 23, and we have everything you need to know about when, where, and who you’re voting for.
File photo by Paul Frangipane

Early voting for the second half of New York State’s primary elections kicks off on Aug. 13 ahead of Primary Day on Aug. 23, when Brooklynites will cast their votes for the state Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The state was forced to delay the state Senate and Congressional primaries when a Court of Appeals struck down new district maps just two months before the original June primary date. Since the Assembly maps were not tossed at that time (though they have been since then,) the Assembly primary went forward as planned on June 28. Assembly maps will be redrawn before the 2024 election cycle.

But, for now, here’s when and where voters will be able to cast their ballots for the August primaries.

Absentee ballots

Due to a change in New York’s election laws, if you submitted an application for an absentee ballot you must vote absentee — if plans change and you are able to vote in person, you will be handed an affidavit ballot, rather than being permitted to vote on the machine. 

voters at voting booths
Voters who applied for an absentee ballot must vote absentee this year — if you arrive to vote in-person after applying for an absentee ballot, even if you didn’t send it in, you will have to vote by affidavit. File photo by Paul Frangipane

The deadline to request an absentee ballot online or by mail has passed, but voters can still download an application and drop it off in-person at their local board of elections up until Aug. 22, the day before the primary.

Early voting begins Aug. 13

Early voting begins on Saturday, Aug. 13, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 21. Polling sites for early voting are different from election day sites — find your early voting location online and find the schedule for early voting hours below.

  • Saturday Aug. 13 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Sunday Aug. 14 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Monday Aug. 15 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday Aug. 16 – 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
  • Wednesday Aug. 17 – 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
  • Thursday Aug. 18 – 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Friday Aug. 19 – 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • Saturday Aug. 20 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Sunday Aug. 21 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Primary Day is Aug. 23.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 23. Remember that election day voting sites are different from early voting sites, and that your polling place may have changed since you last voted — find your Primary Day polling site online

Who’s on the ballot?

Whereas June’s primary was chock-full of local races alongside the big ticket item, voters only have two categories to vote in this year — state Senate and Congressional representative. Check out the list of candidates below and remember that if only one person is running in a certain district, there will not be a primary — that person is the presumptive candidate and will appear on the ballot in November.

There are several notable races in Brooklyn, which contains with two new state Senate districts — District 17 in the southwestern part of Brooklyn is a brand-new district with a majority-Asian population, and District 59 in the north lumps Greenpoint in with parts of Queens and Manhattan. State Senator Andrew Gounardes, who previously represented District 22, is now running in District 26, which more closely follows the neighborhood lines of his first district. Brian Kavanagh, who represents the current District 26 in the state Senate, has been drawn completely out of Brooklyn, and is now running in an all-Manhattan district.

nadler and velazquez ahead of primary
Longtime Brooklyn congressional representatives Nydia Velázquez and Jerrold Nadler are up for election in newly-redrawn districts in the August primary election. Wikimedia Commons/Rhododendrites

On the federal level, Brooklyn is of course home to part of NY-10, which has garnered an infamously large crowd of candidates including Manhattan Councilmember Carlina Rivera, Bronx Congressmember Mondaire Jones, and Manhattan Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou. Two longtime Brooklyn representatives, Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, have also been drawn out of Brooklyn and are now battling it out in the race for NY-12 in Manhattan.

Nydia Velázquez, who has represented parts of Brooklyn and Queens for nearly 20 years, first in District 12 and then in District 7 after the 2012 redistricting, faces a very different district as the long list of NY-10 candidates fight to represent her old stomping grounds in parts of Dumbo, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Park Slope and Sunset Park.

Congressional races

7th Congressional District: Incumbent Democrat Rep. Nydia Velázquez is facing a challenge from Paperboy Price, who infamously ran for New York City Mayor last year.

8th Congressional District:Newcomer Queen Johnson is running against Democratic incumbent Hakeem Jeffries. 

9th Congressional District: Democratic incumbent Yvette D. Clarke is not facing a challenge in the primary. 

10th Congressional District: A whopping 12 Democratic candidates are running in this primary. They are: Peter Gleason, Daniel Goldman, Elizabeth Holtzman, Jimmy Jiang Li, Mondaire Jones, Maud Maron, Yuh-Line Niou, Carlina Rivera, Brian Robinson, Jo Anne Simon, and Yan Xiong. There is no incumbent candidate in this newly-created district.

11th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Nicole Malliotakis is facing off against John Matland, and three Democrats are competing to become the party nominee: Komi Agoda-Koussema, Brittany Ramos DeBarros, and former congressman Max Rose. 

State senate races

17th Senate District: Democrats Iwen Chu, Yu Lin, and John O’Hara are running in this new district.

18th Senate District: Democratic incumbent Julia Salazar is running unopposed.

19th Senate District: Democratic incumbent Roxanne Persaud is running unopposed.

20th Senate District: Democratic incumbent Zellnor Myrie is running unopposed.

21st Senate District: Two Democrats, David Alexis and Kaegan Mays-Williams, are seeking to oust incumbent Kevin Parker.

22nd Senate District: Democratic incumbent Simcha Felder is running unopposed.

23rd Senate District: Sarah Blas, Rajiv Gowda, Bianca Rajpersaud, and Jessica Scarcella-Spanton are running in the Democratic primary, while Sergey Fedorov and Joseph Tirone will face off in the Republican primary.

25th Senate District: Democratic incumbent Jabari Brisport is being challenged in the primary by Renee Holmes and Conrad B. Tillard.

26th Senate District: Andrew Gounardes, the Democratic incumbent in District 22, is facing off against former councilmember David Yassky in the Democratic primary. 

59th Senate District: Five Democrats are running to represent this newly-created district: Francoise Olivas, Kristen Gonzalez, Elizabeth Crowley, Nomiki Konst, and Michael D. Corbett.

Primary winners will appear on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 8, 2022. Early voting for the general election will begin on Oct. 29 and continue through Nov. 6. Follow live Primary Day updates on BrooklynPaper.com on Aug. 23 and learn more about the winners of each contest in the days following the election.