Every four years New York City has a sleepy, quiet election day, with no major ballot initiatives and maybe one or two races that actually grab voters' attention.
November 8, 2011 is one of those days. (Look at this photo of some lonely poll workers.)
The Gotham Gazette breaks it down:
There are no contested races of any kind in the Bronx or Manhattan, according to the Board of Elections' lists of candidates. In Queens and Brooklyn, the sole seats up for grabs are judgeships. Only Staten Island residents will have the chance to vote for or against someone they might actually have heard of: Republican District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who faces a challenge from Democrat Mike Ryan. It's a repeat of their 2007 contest.
And even for the Staten Island DA race, turnout isn't expected to be high. The Staten Island Advance reports, "Those working on both sides of the race expect between 25,000 and 30,000 voters will go to the polls today. At the high end, that would be little more than 10 percent of the borough's 268,181 registered voters."
Most alarming, however, is probably the race for Bronx DA. Robert Johnson, the incumbent who's been in office since 1989, is running unopposed despite the fact The Bar Association of the City Of New York lists Johnson as not approved for the post.
If we haven't totally discouraged you from voting today, you can see who is running your district by entering your address here and you'll be able to see your voting location and a sample ballot. The polls are open until 9PM so there's still time left!
Elsewhere in the Empire state, rising Republican star Rob Astorino, the Westchester County Executive, is hoping he can successfully unseat at least one of the 12 Democrats on the 17-seat Westchester Legislature, The Wall Street Journal reports. The victory would remove a veto override from the Democratic majority force negotiations on his priorities. Astorino is widely believed to be eyeing the governor's office and is looking to build up a resume.
And in Long Island, there's a tight race for Suffolk County Executive between Suffolk Treasurer Angie Carpenter, 67, and Democratic Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone, 42. Incumbent Steve Levy bowed out of the race after investigations into some questionable campaign-fundraising.