voters headed to the polls tuesday morning in the new york region for what is expected to be a high-turnout election, but the bitterly contested race for president isn<u+2019>t expected to be competitive in the tri-state area. polls show democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton, a former u.s. senator from new york, beating republican nominee donald trump, a manhattan businessman, in new york, connecticut and new jersey. no matter who wins the presidential race, new york<u+2019>s standing in the nation<u+2019>s capital stands to get a major boost next year. a new yorker appears to be heading to the oval office, and sen. charles schumer, a new york democrat who is expected to glide to re-election tuesday, is slated to be his party<u+2019>s leader in the upper chamber further down the ballot, there are a number of competitive contests throughout the region, from tight house races to thorny ballot referendums. new york democrats in albany are hoping to ride mrs. clinton<u+2019>s coattails and gain control of the state senate, which is currently led by republicans who have the support of a breakaway faction of democrats. the democrats have invoked mr. trump in hopes of getting better turnout in the races, even though mr. trump is popular in some stretches upstate. gov. andrew cuomo, a democrat, has surprised some in his party by taking an aggressive role stumping for senate democrats this year. in 2014, mr. cuomo had been accused of not doing enough to help democrats win control of the senate, where a number of democratic priorities have been blocked by the gop. senate republicans have been backed by charter-school supporters and real-estate developers among others, and they have frequently cited new york city mayor bill de blasio and the prospect of higher taxes as a reason to vote republican. mr. de blasio, a democrat, is unpopular in much of the state. state sen. adriano espaillat, a democrat who is running to succeed rep. charles rangel in the state<u+2019>s 13th congressional district, is expected to win tuesday and become the first dominican-american elected to the house. if mr. espaillat prevails, the district won<u+2019>t be represented in the house by an african-american for the first time in more than 70 years. one of the most competitive contests in the state is the race for the 19th congressional district in the hudson valley, where zephyr teachout, a liberal lawyer who unsuccessfully challenged mr. cuomo in 2014, is taking on john faso, a republican former state legislator. in the third congressional district, which encompasses a swath of long island and a part of queens, democrat tom suozzi and republican jack martins are competing to succeed rep. steve israel, a democrat. mr. suozzi is ahead in the polls. in another race on long island, rep. lee zeldin, a republican, is attempting to fend off democrat anna throne-holst. mr. zeldin, a firebrand who won office in 2014, is expected to be re-elected. new jersey a house race in new jersey has proved particularly nasty and could have national implications. rep. scott garrett, a republican and longtime representative, faces a stout challenge from josh gottheimer, a longtime democratic operative. mr. gottheimer has gained ground after mr. garrett made comments in private about not supporting republican fundraising efforts because they helped candidates who supported gay marriage. the remarks were widely perceived as antigay. the race is considered a toss up and has been particularly vicious, with both candidates accusing the other of being liars in a recent debate. voters will get to decide tuesday whether to allow casino gambling in the northern part of new jersey. interest groups have poured more than $20 million into the referendum, and the move to allow casinos outside atlantic city is expected to fail. earlier this year, gov. chris christie, a republican, and legislative leaders raised the state<u+2019>s gas tax by 23 cents a gallon, and now voters face a ballot question on whether the revenue should go toward transportation projects. mr. christie and democrat leaders in the legislature have called for voters to approve dedicating the money for the state<u+2019>s transit needs, but kim guadagno, mr. christie<u+2019>s chosen lieutenant governor, publicly disagreed with him, citing the prospect of more debt. connecticut u.s. sen. richard blumenthal, a democrat, is likely to be re-elected in connecticut, which has little electoral drama this year. mr. blumenthal is opposed by republican dan carter, a state representative, who has viciously attacked him. mr. blumenthal is far ahead in the polls and fundraising. write to josh dawsey at joshua.dawsey@dowjones.com
new york area voters go to the polls - wsj
josh dawsey