Voters cast their ballot at a polling site in South Ozone Park on Election Day. (Michael Appleton/ Mayoral Photography Office)
Nov. 6, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A higher percentage of Queens voters cast their ballots in support of President Donald Trump on Nov. 3 than in the 2016 election, preliminary results show.
About 30 percent of Queens ballots went for Trump versus roughly 22 percent in 2016, according to preliminary results from the New York City Board of Elections.
Though the majority of votes in the borough — about 69 percent — went to former Vice President Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton gained the favor of a larger portion of Queens voters in 2016 when she brought in roughly 75 percent of votes.
The current results from the 2020 election are based off early voting and Election day votes, with nearly 96 percent of scanners reported at the time of publication. They don’t include the unprecedented number of absentee ballots New Yorkers cast in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden is likely to gain more ground in Queens when absentee ballots are counted, as more Democrats chose to send their votes via mail than Republicans, according to analysts.
Still Trump has gained about eight percentage points in the borough this election after an often turbulent presidency.
The typically red areas of Queens including Northeast Queens, Howard Beach and the western side of the Rockaway peninsula account for a significant portion of Trump’s votes.
However, Trump gained votes in more moderate and Democratic areas as well, according to a map of the election results.
Trump gained ground from 2016 to 2020 in the Central Queens neighborhoods of Middle Village, Maspeth and Glendale. He earned about 70 percent of ballots in some sections of these neighborhoods in 2020, up from slightly more than half of the votes in 2016. (click here for a map of neighborhood breakdowns)
Martha Ayon, a Queens-based Democratic political consultant, said Trump’s gains in many Queens neighborhoods was an eyeopener for many progressive residents who forgot that many of their neighbors have conservative leanings.
Other Queens neighborhoods where Clinton won the 2016 election with a slim margin switched to a nearly 50/50 split on the Biden vs. Trump ballot.
In sections as Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Woodside, the number of votes for Trump grew from around 15 to 20 percent of votes in 2016 to 25 to 30 percent this presidential election.
Southeast Queens and Western Queens continued to remain Democratic strongholds this election, but a map of the election results across the borough this year illustrate a shift from the 2016 election — with the blue in Queens fading.
Ayon said many in the Democratic party overlooked the moderate voters in the borough.
“I think the Democratic party — because the polling was so, I guess, comforting — I think a lot of people underestimated how much work the Republicans were doing to get out their own vote and we saw that in Queens,” Ayon said.
Queens is historically moderate, she said.
The borough gained national attention in 2018 when progressive newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat long-time incumbent and Queens Democratic Party head Joseph Crowley in the primary election.
However, Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive politics is fairly new for the borough, Ayon said.
“Queens has always had this very moderate [side],” she said. “What AOC has brought to Queens is very new.”
Ayon added that the left often acts in an echo chamber and misses more moderate voices as a result — as shown in this election.
She said the results of the presidential election — with growing red and beige areas on the map — show that the Queens voters and New York City residents overall may seek a more moderate mayor in the 2021 election.
“This beige and red that’s going around shows me that there’s a better path to victory for a McGuire, a Shaun Donovan, an Eric Adams than the progressives think,” Ayon said. “The map is showing that there’s an audience that’s open to somebody in the middle.”
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19 Comments
i couldnt vote for biden, all that aoc socialism stuff turns me off. Bernie saying there should be no billionaires, no way. Biden is too weak and not all there, he’s gonna be pushed around. aoc started already! poor guy
I’d rather vote another Reagan into office than a tax evading draft dodging reality TV Game Show host into the highest office in the land. I can’t believe how the Republican Party cowers to this loudmouth thug.The better man won.
I will miss the official White House orange makeup artist
Fraud, fraud, fraud.
Steaks, casinos, universities – yup, yup, and yup.
I guess they didn’t show up to the mass celebrations when they announced Biden won?
So glad that we have a new beginning. My family who lives in Mexico called me and they were as happy as i was. We did it!
London blew off fireworks,Paris rang church bells, pubs in Ireland cheered and the rest of the world danced in the streets when the news Trump lost was announced.
You were never a Republican in the first place stop lying.
There were literally thousands of people cheering and celebrating throughout North Western Queens when they announced that Biden/Harris won the presidency. It was touching.
reminds me of a friend of mine who escaped Cuba..how they danced in the street when castro first came in on that new years eve…it was short-lived & how her family & friends lost everything & were lucky to escape with their lives
What is the source of this image? ‘Todd Schneider’ doesnt google well.
But, notice how the red zones coincide with the new rolling lockdown zones.
Draw your own conclusions.
You must realise that declaring yourself victor when recounts are happening and no officials declare a winner you’re now an enemy of the state. 43% of New York Staters voted Trump. NYS is going to be a battle ground state if it doesnt turn red.
Yes Liam but that doesn’t change the fact 57% didn’t vote for Trump. Funny how people can support an admitted draft dodging tax evading failure of a businessman for the top office in the land. It’s not a reality TV show which is where Trump actually made his money before he was voted into office. Funny there was nothing wrong when Trump when the election in 2016. Trump has found a useful idiot in you.
Many Democrats voted by mail, especially in NYC, and those ballots have not been counted yet.
No need to cheat in NY. Democrats would vote Pavlovian-style for Son of Sam as long as there was a D after his name on the ballot.
The DNC takes your votes for granted. With good reason.
I cast my vote by mail. Let’s finish counting all the votes before we report about percentages.
Hooray for America! The people have spoken. Goodbye and good riddance.
The fear of “protesters” and “rioters “ that happened during Trumps administration were projected by Trump to happen if Biden got elected. Fear and racism. Is anyone here in this comment stream old enough to remember the 1977 mayoral race? The blackout riots catapulted Koch in the polls. Law and order candidate. Trump and Giuliani remember this and that’s why they deployed it as a tactic. The fear and so called law and order strategy obviously still works.