New York City is seen as a Democratic Party stronghold, but the 2024 presidential election results showed a marked shift toward the Republican Party in many parts of the city.
Initial result data from Tuesday’s vote showed President-elect Donald Trump received 100,000 more votes than he did in 2020, and while that did not gain him the state, it did appear to weaken the Democrats’ hold.
Overall, 67.7 percent of NYC voters chose Vice President Kamala Harris, compared to 30.45 percent for Trump. In 2020, President Biden won 76.19 percent against Trump’s 22.69 percent.
“New York City is a complex place with a recent history of electing mayors from both of the two parties. If you’re interested understanding the 2024 election results in the city, looking to Mayor Adams 2021 victory would be a good guide,” Heath Brown, Associate Professor of Public Policy at John Jay College, told Newsweek Friday.
“He won the general election against Republican Curtis Sliwa with 67% of the vote. That’s the exact same percentage Vice President Harris got on Tuesday, suggesting Democrats remain the majority in the city, but are not in total control.”
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
Maps show differences in NYC election results
Map comparisons of results from the two elections showed a strong blue result across much of the city four years ago, with an overall weakening of that vote this time around.
Trump made a 5 percent gain in Manhattan, 6 percent in Brooklyn, 11 percent in both the Bronx and Queens, and 8 percent on already Republican-leaning Staten Island.
Some neighborhoods which were staunchly Democrat in 2020, such as the historically Black neighborhood of Harlem, saw less enthusiasm for Harris than Biden, while a large swathe of diverse Queens moved more in favor of the Republican Party’s candidate.
Brown told Newsweek that this is because the problems facing New Yorkers cannot be addressed solely along party lines.
“Neither party has offered easy solutions for affordable housing, education, or public safety, so, despite its majority in the city, the Democratic Party has work left to do to convince many voters in the future that they have earned their support,” he said.
Trump took a chance on New York
Despite his chances of winning New York being slim, Trump made a stop in the city in the closing weeks of the campaign, rallying at Madison Square Garden. He also visited Nassau County on Long Island a few weeks earlier, which flipped in his favor with over 51 percent of the vote. In May, Trump held a rally in the Bronx as well.
Harris did not campaign in New York, focusing instead on the seven swing states.
When it came to other races, Democrats still came out strong, with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand beating her Republican opponent Michael Sapraicone with 58.4 percent of the vote.
Most of NYC’s House seats remained blue, with District 11, covering Staten Island and part of south Brooklyn, keeping GOP Representative Nicole Malliotakis.
