A quiet election day in Mamdani’s former Assembly district

By Noah Powelson and Jacob Kaye

In November, crowds of New Yorkers lined up out the door of Information Technology High School, a polling site in Long Island City, to cast their votes in a historic mayoral election. The halls of the school were buzzing with passion from voters, many of whom were excited to send their assemblymember to City Hall.

Three months later, voters trekking through hardened piles of snow to cast their ballot in the special election to fill now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s former Assembly seat remained passionate – but the warmth of the crowds was nowhere to be found.

Turnout in Tuesday’s election in Assembly District 36 appeared predictably sluggish throughout the morning in Astoria and Long Island City. February special elections historically have low turnout, but Tuesday’s election wasn’t helped by the massive snowfall that came a little more than a week prior or by the bitter cold that followed.

Around 2,800 people cast votes during the shortened early voting period in the race, a small fraction of the 41,000 who showed up to cast ballots in the November 2025 general election in the district.

But the voters who cast their ballot in the contest between candidates Diana Moreno, Rana Abdelhamid and Mary Jobaida said that they were never going to let a little bad weather keep them from showing up.

“I just wanted to make sure my voice is heard,” said Niki Morales, who became the first person to vote at St. Joseph Catholic Academy in Astoria around an hour and a half after the polls opened on Tuesday.

Evan Davidoff, the second voter at St. Joseph, said that while he votes in every election, voting now feels particularly important.

“Look at what’s going on in the country – the vote really matters,” he said. “No election is too small, and they all matter.”

A Mamdani supporter, Davidoff said voters need look no further than the mayor to understand the power of their vote in Tuesday’s Assembly race.

“You never know where the person who’s running for Assembly might wind up,” he said.

Both Morales and Davidoff voted for Moreno, who became the frontrunner in the race not long after first announcing her candidacy several weeks after Mamdani’s mayoral win. Moreno, a Democratic Socialists of America member, was endorsed by the mayor, who said on Tuesday that she was “exactly the right person to continue that legacy of fighting for working people.” She was also endorsed by the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party and the Queens County Democratic Party, a rare, if not unprecedented, alignment from the three political organizations.

But Moreno isn’t the only DSA member running for the seat. So is Abdelhamid, who cut her teeth in the district organizing along Steinway Street and teaching local Muslim women how to defend themselves. She has the support of Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Councilmember Julie Won and several groups, including the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.

Jobaida, an organizer, also is a DSA member. She has support in the local Bangladeshi community and was endorsed by State Senator John Liu.

A majority of voters the Eagle spoke with on Tuesday said they cast ballots for Moreno.

Among them was Louis K., a 71-year-old voter at Information Technology High School who braved the cold to cast his ballot for the mayor’s chosen successor. The weather didn’t stand a chance of keeping him from voting – he’s voted in every election since 1972, he said.

Louis K. said the city and state’s ability to respond to President Donald Trump played a significant role in who he voted for. He said he voted for Moreno partly due to the endorsement she received from Mamdani, believing it was important for the mayor to receive as much support from elected officials as possible.

“The thing I really want to do is check [President Donald Trump], that’s crucial for me,” he said. “I don’t know what the Assembly can do, but I think the more help we give Mamdani, the more help Mamdani can get to attack the nightmare in the White House.”

Another Information Technology High School voter, Kellie J., also voted for Moreno and said that the candidate’s platform spoke to her. Kellie J., who commutes to Manhattan for work as a consultant at an architectural firm, said child care was her biggest issue.

“I have a three-year-old kid, so that plays a major part in my vote today,” she told the Eagle. “Just the concept of ‘I know the struggle of trying to live in the city and afford child care,’ and I just like the platform she stands on for that.”

The two voters were part of only a small handful who showed up to the polling site Tuesday morning.

Voter turnout wasn’t much higher in the nearby Queensbridge Houses, where the local polling site had counted 20 voters by 9 a.m.

One Queensbridge Houses resident, Pamela McGraw, voted for Mary Jobaida then immediately took to campaigning for her right down the street from the poll site, handing out pamphlets to passersbys. McGraw, a retired security guard, said she voted for Jobaida because of her presence in the community, and her belief that she could deliver on her promises.

“You see her, not only when it comes time to vote,” McGraw said. “She comes out with the food banks and pantries, listens to our concerns for the people in the area. She’s active in the community…You see her coming out, asking questions to the seniors, which they need more than anything.”

Canvassers for both Jobaida and Moreno were spotted throughout Astoria on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Moreno campaign told the Eagle they had over 90 volunteers taking to the streets and poll sites in the morning to get last-minute votes.

Moreno cast her own ballot at PS 166Q in Astoria around 10:15 a.m. on election day, after leading a procession of supporters down Steinway Street chanting Moreno’s name and encouraging passing Queens residents to vote.

“What we are fighting for is a world, a city, a Queens, where that abundance, that safety, that dignity belongs to all of us,” Moreno told her supporters on Tuesday. “This is the place where we can show the world what the alternative to fascism is, which is Democratic Socialism.”

Abdelhamid was also out on the streets on Tuesday, campaigning near various poll sites hoping to make an impact before polls close.

“We remain optimistic about turnout despite the weather related-disruptions to early voting,” a spokesperson for Abdelhamid told the Eagle in a statement on Tuesday. “Our focus is on making sure people have clear information and a plan to vote. Even in a February special election, we’re seeing strong engagement, and we’re confident that voters will show up and make their voices heard today.”

Jobaida did not respond to a request for comment from the Eagle by time of publication.