11th District candidates make final push in Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island

It's a close race for the 11th congressional District and both Democratic incumbent Rep. Max Rose and Republican challenger Nicole Malliotakis made their final pitch to Southern Brooklyn and Staten Island voters on Saturday -- just days before Election Day.

The heated and contentious race between the two candidates is still a close call, a recent poll shows Malliotakis with a two-point lead over Rose, with 48% to 46%.

Rose, an Army veteran and a current captain in the National Guard, flipped the district blue in 2018 when he defeated the Republican Rep. Dan Donovan.

And now Malliotakis, a member of the New York state Assembly who previously ran for mayor of New York City, is working to take back the district's seat as a Republican.

Malliotakis, who was recently endorsed by President Donald Trump, spent the afternoon speaking to voters outside of a market in Dyker Heights, while the Staten Island clergy joined Rose for a press conference.

With such a tight race, Rose and Malliotakis continued to push voters to head the polls and explained why they're running for the district's seat.

"If you want to preserve the American dream for future generations and you want to stop socialism, you should be voting for me," Malliotakis said.

"We've accomplished an incredible amount together, new buses, millions of dollars to end our community nightmare, significant progress on lowering prescription drugs," Rose said.

The New York City Board of Elections says through day seven of early voting, nearly 281,000 Brooklyn voters have come out to the polls, and only 80,000 Staten Island voters.

Early voting was open until 5 p.m. on Saturday and continues for a final day on Sunday, with polls set to open at 7 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. Election Day is Tuesday.