ALBANY — About 16,000 voters in two of New York City's outer boroughs sent a message Tuesday that reverberated around the state and country.
Queens Rep. Joseph Crowley's stunning loss to first-time candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Democratic socialist from the Bronx, has the potential to shake up politics in New York and Washington, where Crowley was a high-ranking House member with his eye on succeeding Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
But Ocasio-Cortez's win wasn't the only result to grab headlines in New York, where there were several crowded primaries in marginal districts that Democrats are looking to flip this fall.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's primaries:
The Democratic establishment took a hit
Crowley was part of New York City's old school of politics: He won 10 terms in Congress, rising to become one of the city's most-powerful power brokers as head of the Queens Democrats.
His loss to Ocasio-Cortez, who is poised to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress this fall, was quickly hailed by the more progressive-minded wing of the Democratic Party as a major win over the establishment.
Ocasio-Cortez had support from Our Revolution, the political group that sprung from Bernie Sanders' Democratic presidential run in 2016. Her positions leaned heavily to the left, including support for a Medicare-for-all bill and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
But she wasn't the only one to beat a Democrat backed by the establishment.
In central New York, Syracuse University visiting professor Dana Balter defeated Juanita Perez-Williams, who had support from Pelosi and the House Democrats' campaign arm.
Balter will take on Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, Onondaga County, in November.
A boost for Cynthia Nixon?
New York's often-criticized voting laws split up federal and state primaries, meaning actor Cynthia Nixon's Democratic primary challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo won't be on the ballot until Sept. 13.
But Nixon's campaign — which was badly in need of a boost with a recent public-opinion poll showing her trailing Cuomo by 35 points — saw reason to celebrate Tuesday night.
She and Ocasio-Cortez had endorsed each other's primary bid this week.
Like Ocasio-Cortez did to Crowley, Nixon is challenging Cuomo from the left and will need support from progressive-minded Democrats in New York City to win.
"This is what happens when you give people a choice," Nixon said in a statement. "They show up and they reject the status quo."
Few surprises outside NYC, Syracuse
Elsewhere in New York, the perceived front-runners largely carried the day.
Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County, easily won a four-way race in the Democratic primary to succeed the late Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport. He'll take on Republican neurosurgeon James Maxwell in November.
Antonio Delgado, a Kingston attorney, appeared to come out on top of the seven-person Democratic field in the wide-ranging 19th congressional district, which includes the Poughkeepsie area and stretches north toward the Albany area and west into Broome County.
Delgado was a fundraising leader in the race and will now take on Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, Columbia County, in the district that has a near-even split of Democrats and Republicans.
Rep. Eliot Engel, a Bronx Democrat whose district stretched into Westchester County, easily defeated three primary challengers.
Tedra Cobb, a St. Lawrence County lawmaker, won the Democratic race to take on Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 21st congressional district, which covers the North Country.
On the Republican side, incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan easily warded off a spirited challenge from former Rep. Michael Grimm, who resigned in 2015 after he was charged with tax evasion. (This was a bit of a surprise: An NY1-Siena College poll released June 4 showed Grimm with a lead.)
A fraction of voters decided things
Most voters stayed home Tuesday — and that meant some candidates were able to win with support from a fairly small fraction of eligible voters.
Ocasio-Cortez, for example, won with votes from about 16,000 Democrats, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. Crowley picked up about 12,000 votes.
That means about 13 percent of the 214,570 active enrolled Democrats in the district cast a ballot.
Turnout was above average for primary races in Monroe County, where the 25th district is located within.
But even there, unofficial turnout was about 19 percent of active enrolled Democrats. Morelle won with about 15,300 votes.
In the 19th district, which had seven candidates that split votes, Delgado was on pace to win with about 8,000 votes.
New York's split primary system had an impact
New York is the only state in the country to split its state and federal primaries. It likely depressed turnout Tuesday.
Only congressional races were on the ballot Tuesday.
Democratic voters will head to the polls again in September to decide between Cuomo and Nixon, as will voters of any party with a contested state legislative primary.
The split dates back to 2012, when a judge moved the federal primary to June to ensure there was enough time before the general election to send absentee ballots to military personnel overseas.
But the Democrat-led state Assembly and Republican-led Senate have been at odds over the state's primary ever since, unable to agree on a date to unify the federal and state races.