Former Governor Andrew Cuomo leads new Marist poll ahead of Democratic primary
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A new poll revealed that one Democratic candidate in the race for New York City mayor is dominating ahead of the June 24 primary.
The survey from Marist College says former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a commanding lead over the second-place candidate.
An event to endorse mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was held at Coop City on Wednesday.
"If you want a new vision, you want a path forward, you will vote for Zohran Mamdani," Former Congressman Jamal Bowman said.
Bowman lost re-election to the House last fall, but the Bronx turned out for him, and he wants voters to turn out for Mamdani.
Mamdani represents Astoria for the State Assembly.
He's a progressive, a democratic socialist, and is focused on making New York City more affordable. He wants to freeze rents, set up government-run grocery stores and establish universal child care.
"What you see from New Yorkers is they cannot afford to live in this city, and that is something that politicians have treated that we are just spectators to that crisis when in fact we have the tools to deliver a city that New Yorkers can actually afford," Mamdani said.
He and his volunteers hope to shake the hands of a million voters in the next few weeks, but will that put him in striking distance of the former governor, Andrew Cuomo?
According to a new Marist poll, Cuomo holds a commanding lead among the democratic candidates with 37%.
Mamdani is second with 18%, and the remaining candidates are at single digits.
The poll also shows that Cuomo would break the 50% threshold in the fifth round of ranked-choice voting.
"It is not surprising that Cuomo is doing better," political analyst Hank Scheinkopf said.
Scheinkopf says Cuomo has the name recognition and is spending more money on advertising, but says Mamdani has legs.
"If he gets to the numbers that portend in this poll, he will be a long-time player in New York City politics," Scheinkopf said.
Mamdani says he's encouraged by the poll numbers.
"We have been told over the course of this campaign that our ceiling was 5%, 10%, we continue to show that there is no ceiling to this movement," Mamdani said.
While the Democratic primary is in about six weeks, the election is still six months away, plenty of time for anything and everything to change.
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