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When we think of New York State we generally think of it as a liberal state.  But when I saw Apple News' voting map Wednesday morning our admittedly liberal county was surrounded by a sea of red, with a few other counties dotted in blue around the state.  Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans about 3 to 1 in Tompkins County.  So it was no surprise Wednesday morning to see that Joe Biden was way ahead in Tompkins County's unofficial day-after results, 21,643 to Donald Trump's 8,522.

New York State-wide, on Wednesday after Election Day Biden was leading 3,789,548 to Trump's 2,956,641 (with under 35% of votes reported). That speaks to large populations in New York City, including Bronx, Kings, New York, and Queens Counties, and adjoining Westchester County.  By population New York is a liberal state.  But geographically the opposite is true.

That was apparent in the unofficial 23rd Congressional District results.  District-wide Tom Reed scored 63.1% (160,930) of the votes, to Tracy Mitrano's  35.8% (91,331).  But in Tompkins County, the only blue county in an otherwise red district, the percentages were pretty much reversed, with Mitrano taking 69.41% of the votes (21,047) to Reed's 29.29% (8,883).  With almost 80% of votes showng Reed's 63%, he claimed victory Wednesday.

"We are truly honored to see so many people across the district come out to support us with their vote. Since I was first elected to be their voice in Washington, my priority has and will always be delivering for the people of the 23rd district," Reed said. "As we look to continue combating COVID-19 and reigniting our economy, that fundamental commitment to service will continue to guide our work. We must now come together as Americans, regardless of party, and unite in our determination to work together to make this nation a more perfect union. We thank my opponent for a well-fought race."

These results are called 'unofficial' for a reason -- the actual counts are determined after all the votes, including military and absentee ballots are added to the tallies.  But the 'unofficial' results are a good indication of how Tompkins County votes.  Even in districts where candidates are popular, like the 54th State Senate District (Lansing is the only Tompkins County town in this district), Democrats got more votes.  Senator Pam Helming received 41.38% of Tompkins County votes to Democrat Shauna O'Toole's 58.6%.  Yet Helming won the district with 68.7% of the votes to O'Toole's 31.3.

In the 51st District it's the same story -- the Republican candidate leads in the district, but trails in Tompkins County.  Same in the 58th, where incumbent Republican Tom O'Mara is leading district-wide with 61% to Democrat Leslie Danks Burke's 38.4%.  In Tompkins County Danks Burk leads with 78.8% of votes to O'Mara's 21.12.

The only district where Tompkins County matches the full district vote is the 125th Assembly District, with blue Tompkins County and red Cortland County.  District-wide Anna Kelles (D) had 65.2% of the vote as of Wednesday as opposed to Matthew McIntyre's (R) 34.8%.  In Tompkins County alone the spread was similar with 70.73 for Kelles and 29.15 for McIntyre.

As of this election Tompkins County has a total of 58,626 registered voters.  32,190 are Democrats, 11,087 are Republicans, and 3,511 are members of other parties.  11,087 are independent of parties.

Voting procedures are dramatically different from past elections with so many voters voting early and unusually high numbers of mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.  That means the actual results will not be available, most likely, for several weeks.

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