While the gubernatorial struggle between Andrew Cuomo and Zephyr Teachout has been the most high profile, there are many Primary Day battles that could spark big voter turnouts today.
Two headline races are in Buffalo.
Senator Tim Kennedy and County Legislator Betty Jean Grant are in a re-match from two years ago when Kennedy squeaked through. He's been very active since that scare, as has Grant. There's been a lot of money poured into the campaign and experts say it's too close to call with turnout the deciding factor.
That's also likely true in former Senator Antoine Thompson's challenge to Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes. A third candidate, newcomer Veronica Hemphill-Nichols, is considered the wild card in the race. There's a considerable geographic overlap between the two districts and that may bring out many voters.
There are also fights in two open seats, the Democratic battle between Camille Brandon and Mark Mazurek for the State Assembly seat vacated under fire by Dennis Gabryszak. That race might raise the turnout in the Grant-Kennedy race where there is also an overlap. The other open seat is that of Senator George Maziarz who isn't running again. The Republican race is dominated by North Tonawanda Mayor Robert Ortt who faces a challenge from Gia Arnold who stopped campaigning after admitting an affair and then came back into the race.
There are both Republican and Democratic primaries for the State Senate seat held by Mark Grisanti.
Polls close at nine tonight.
