ALBANY - The ticket led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo cruised to victory Thursday in the state's Democratic primaries.
But the night wasn't without its share of surprises, with insurgent Democrats successful in knocking off six incumbent senators who had aided Republicans' control of the chamber.
And for a primary falling on the second Thursday in September, turnout was remarkable — closer to what is seen in presidential races rather than statewide contests.
Here's five takeaways from primary night in New York:
Cuomo crushes
The idea that Cuomo might face the same fate as other Democratic incumbents across the nation who lost to upstart candidates never materialized.
The Democratic governor seeking a third term cruised over Cynthia Nixon, the Sex and the City star, in a race that drew national intrigue.
He won 65 percent to 35 percent over Nixon — which essentially matched his primary victory over Zephyr Teachout four years ago.
Cuomo didn't take the race for granted. He spent at least $21 million on the primary, while Nixon spent about $2 million.
Cuomo faced backlash from Nixon and her left-wing allies, for sure.
But Cuomo was able to secure more union support than he did four years ago and ran on a progressive record that included the passage of same-sex marriage, stronger gun-control laws, a higher minimum wage and paid-family leave.
Nixon beat Cuomo in the Albany area and in the liberal bastion of Tompkins County, home to Ithaca. But that was about it.
He easily won New York City, dominated in the suburbs and cruised in central and western New York.
"He fought hard and he took nothing for granted in this race," Nixon said in her concession speech.
"When others were underestimating us, he did not – and he spent accordingly."
Whoa, the turnout
Turnout was up. Way up.
Consider this: Cuomo won his 2014 primary with 361,380 votes.
Nixon lost the 2018 primary with more than 500,000.
Voter turnout nearly tripled compared to 2014, the last time a gubernatorial primary was on the ballot.
More than 1.4 million ballots had been counted as of midnight, with more than 400 election districts and paper ballots left to be counted.
In 2014, just 574,350 Democrats cast a ballot in the primary – about 10 percent of party’s total members in New York.
Turnout this year was at least 23 percent, with results still trickling in.
Senate IDC: The night’s biggest loser
When the Senate Independent Democratic Conference disbanded earlier this year among pressure from progressives, there were eight members.
Six of them appeared to lose their primaries Thursday.
It was a bad, bad night for the former IDC members, all of whom faced challenges from insurgents who banded together to highlight the conference’s ties to the GOP.
The IDC was a group of breakaway Democrats who partnered with Republicans to run the Senate in 2013.
Among the six former members who lost Thursday was Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, who was once one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state.
He lost handily to Alessandra Biaggi, a former aide to Cuomo.
The only two IDC members to survive were Sens. David Carlucci of Rockland County and Diane Savino of Staten Island.
The four-way attorney general race
While Cuomo swept Nixon upstate, it was the city vote that carried his preferred attorney general candidate, Letitia James, to victory.
James, the city's public advocate from Brooklyn, crushed her three opponents in the city to win the race with 41 percent of the vote.
Even though Teachout, one of the attorney general candidates this year, won through the northern Hudson Valley and North Country, it was not enough to catch James.
Hochul wins with upstate support
While James was aided by the city, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul was the beneficiary of the upstate vote.
Hochul, a Buffalo-area native and former congresswoman, beat Jumaane Williams, a New York City councilman, in the race for lieutenant governor.
Williams won in Manhattan and his home borough of Brooklyn.
But Hochul crushed him in upstate — particularly in Erie and Monroe counties, which are the two largest counties in the region.