Zohran Mamdani holds big lead in New York City mayor's race, new poll finds
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Zohran Mamdani nearly doubles Andrew Cuomo's lead, according to a new survey by The New York Times and Siena College.
Mamdani holds a 22-point advantage over Cuomo, 46% to 24%, the survey found.
Republican Curtis Sliwa polled at 15% and Mayor Eric Adams at 9% among likely New York City voters.
"Mamdani holds a huge lead among younger voters while voters forty-five and older are split between Cuomo and Mamdani in the four-way race," Don Levy, SRI's Director, said.
If both Sliwa and Adams were to drop out of the race and make it a two-person showdown, Cuomo would capture the vast majority of their current support and win a majority of voters over forty-five.
"Mamdani's overwhelming 22-point lead would shrink to four points. At present, Cuomo would need both Adams and Sliwa to drop out in order to close the gap," Levy said.
But Cuomo said he believes he can win the race, even if nobody drops out.
"I don't know what decisions Mr. Adams and Mr. Sliwa will make in the interim, but that's up to them. But the answer is yes," Cuomo said. "Yes, I believe you will see people just naturally gravitate to the viable choices."
Meanwhile, some of city's richest landlords gathered for a closed door emergency meeting on Tuesday morning in a effort to strategize to get more support behind Cuomo.
The meeting comes as the race for City Hall is in its final weeks and the general election is raising eyebrows for some with moneyed interests, waiting for the field to narrow down to one candidate to challenge Mamdani.
However, Mayor Adams has pushed aside any rumors that he will exit the race and Sliwa says he is not going anywhere.
Speaking Tuesday morning, the mayor downplayed the poll and Cuomo's chances of winning.
"You have to really energize the voters and so it doesn't surprise me that after spending $35 million, he's where he is. Now, it's my opportunity to spend my money and get my message out," Adams said.
President Donald Trump has urged the challengers to unite to defeat Mamdani, a Democratic socialist. He denies offering Adams any incentive to quit the race, but repeated his concerns on WABC Radio.
"I read where he has no intention of getting out. Again, Curtis, I don't know him at all. I don't know him at all. And Cuomo I do know. But I would say this: Anybody is better than what you have," Trump said. "We're going to have a communist mayor in New York. How about that one? We are going to end up with a communist mayor."
The insights are telling.
Just 30% approve of the job Adams is doing compared to 68% who don't.Mamdani leads the pack on favorability, with 52% and the others lagging behind.
In fact, likely voters said Mamdani would do "the best job" on housing, affordability and fiscal policy.He was essentially tied with Cuomo on the issue of crime and rated higher than Cuomo when it comes to standing up to President Trump.
The poll may be a wake-up call for Cuomo and the others. Thirty-seven percent said a socialist mayor would be good for New York compared to just 32%who answered "bad."
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