Election Day in New York yielded victories for Gov. Kathy C. Hochul and state Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. Both Democrats are loud advocates of gambling expansion. That likely means plans to add three full retail casino licenses in downstate New York and discussion of a bill to legalize online casino gambling will move forward in 2023.
After polls closed at 9 p.m. today, the New York State Board of Elections began reporting results of the gubernatorial and District 15 races.
Hochul is double-digits ahead of her Republican opponent, US Rep. Lee Zeldin.
In Queens, Addabbo is leading in the race against Republican Danniel S. Maio.
Neither victory is yet official.
However, both appear to be the unofficial winners of their races.
With reelection accomplished, Hochul said during her debate with Zeldin that the siting process for the three downstate casinos will progress.
Addabbo repeatedly told NY Sports Day that he will make an effort to have lawmakers add New York online casinos to the state budget in 2023. That’s generally how bills pass the legislature. They then need Hochul’s signature to become law.
Election Day in New York Means an Addabbo Victory
At 10 p.m., 154 of 154 election districts reported in Addabbo’s race. He’d won with 57.6% of the vote. That’s 13,475 electors choosing him over Maio, who received 39.34% of the ballots.
With Maio seeing 9,205 participants in the electoral process decide he was the right choice, Addabbo won reelection by 4,270 votes.
In other words, Addabbo’s margin of victory was 18.26%.
According to the elections board, about 3% of ballots were blank, void, or for write-in candidates.
This was a more complicated Election Day in New York for the senator first elected in 2008.
First, his home in Howard Beach ended up out of his district. So he promised to move in with his mother in Ozone Park to fulfill the residency requirement.
Second, redistricting meant an August primary in which many New Yorkers had new polling locations.
As of presstime, Addabbo hadn’t returned NY Sports Day‘s request for comment about his victory. He also hadn’t tweeted, posted on Facebook, or added a statement to his New York State Senate page.
The only comment about his win came from actor John Patrick Jordan, who is also pictured voting in Los Angeles today while wearing a DraftKings Casino T-shirt and a DraftKings NY baseball cap.
The actor tweeted about Addabbo:
@SenJoeAddabbo is an absolute legend. Congrats, Senator. Well deserved. This man will get iGaming passed in NY — count on it!! $dkng
Hochul’s First Gubernatorial Election Day in New York
Even though she was the incumbent, Hochul was appointed in after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned. She took office on Aug. 24, 2021.
So today was Hochul’s first Election Day in New York.
At 11 p.m., 8,637 of 14,296 election districts reported Hochul had 56.81% of the vote. The more than 2.1 million electors who selected her totaled 537,560 more than those who picked Zeldin.
Zeldin’s 42.29% gave Hochul a 14.52% lead in her still unofficial victory.
Less than 1% of New York voters left this question blank, filled in a write-in candidate’s name, or had their ballot voided.
Like Addabbo, Hochul hasn’t yet made a statement on her site or social media accounts.
Unlike the actor’s post about Addabbo, constituents’ comments about Hochul’s win are ad hominem attacks that NY Sports Day won’t repeat here.
However, with Election Day in New York finished, NY Sports Day will say that New York gambling expansion plans will likely progress as Hochul and Addabbo promised.
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