New Resident of New York Hopes the State Remains Blue

Three Flatbush residents stop to pet a dog before leaving the Brooklyn Public Library Cortelyou branch where they cast their votes. By: Shanae Harte

On the final day of the midterm elections, groups of diverse voters visited the Cortelyou Public Library to cast their ballots. While these voters are looking for positive change in their local communities, many of them voted to prevent abortion rights from changing in New York.

When early voting began, the Democratic party watched as Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate running for governor, increased in the polls. Zeldin has openly opposed abortion and has voted to defund Planned Parenthood since the supreme court [NY’s supreme court is its lowest court, so you need to make it clear here] overturned the Roe v. Wade this summer.

As the election grew closer, Zeldin announced that he would not make changes to the state’s abortion laws, but many New Yorkers did not trust this.

Sarah Sgro, a New York publicist, visited the Cortelyou public library to vote against Zeldin out of fear that voting him into office would mean putting an end to reproductive and abortion rights in the state.

“I feel like Republicans and Republican-led governments even on a local level, don't prioritize things like schools, they don't prioritize things like community services. They don't prioritize arts which is an industry in which I work and rely on,” said Sarah Sgro, a New Yorker who voted at the Cortelyou Library. By: Shanae Harte

“...[Reproductive justice] just seems to be so under attack in this country right now,” said Sgro.

“I think it's really important that New York remains a place where the choice whether or not to have children is easily accessible to everyone and not just people in New York.”

Since Sgro’s first time voting in 2012, she has not missed a voting season. For this year’s midterm election, work commitments kept her from casting an early ballot, but the stakes of this year’s race encouraged her to get her vote in.

“We get a chance every two years to show what we believe in and who we are as a country,” Sgro said.

“...in New York, you can't take anything as a guarantee. And if you don't exercise your right to vote in this election, then you don't have any control over what's going on in your community or what's going on in your state.”

Sgro loves that New York feels like a state where officials care about the folk they are governing. She believes turning the state red would mean subscribing to an individualistic government that would not cater to the needs of the state and city.

“I feel like Republicans and Republican-led governments, even on a local level, don't prioritize things like schools,... community services [and] prioritize arts which is [an] industry in which I work and rely on,” said Sgro.

“ I think there's a lot of focus on what they call individual liberties. And I don't think that's what we stand for.”