Andrew Cuomo gains ground on Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race, Quinnipiac poll finds
Zohran Mamdani is still well ahead of Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, according to the Quinnipiac poll. Credit: Jeff Bachner
Andrew M. Cuomo has picked up almost all of Eric Adams’ support for New York City mayor, but Zohran Mamdani would still win the election by double digits, according to an opinion poll released Thursday.
The poll, by Quinnipiac University with less than a month before the Nov. 4 election, found 46% of likely voters back Democratic nominee Mamdani, 33% support independent Cuomo and 15% are behind Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Adams dropped out of the race last month.
By comparison, the university’s poll from Sept. 10, when Adams was still in the race, showed Mamdani with 45%, Cuomo with 23%, Sliwa with 15%, and Adams with 12%.
Adams dropped out Sept. 28, but under state law will still appear on the ballot. Sliwa has been pressured to drop out to improve Cuomo’s chances but is refusing to heed those calls.
"Now that Eric Adams is out of the race, we see that Zohran Mamdani’s lead went from a 22-point lead to a 13-point lead in the past month. And what we saw was that Cuomo gained about 10 points in this race. He's now at 33% level of support, up from 23 a month ago. And, Curtis Sliwa stayed even at 15% from a month ago," poll assistant director Mary Snow told Newsday.
The poll, of 1,015 New York City likely voters, was conducted between Oct. 3 and 7, with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.
Among the other findings:
- Cuomo's strongest support is among Jewish voters, 60% of whom back him, compared with 29% who are for Mamdani and 8% for Sliwa.
- 90% of likely Mamdani voters are enthusiastic about him, compared with 85% for Sliwa and 69% for Cuomo.
- Mamdani backers are also most likely to have made up their minds: 87% (Mamdani) to 81% (Sliwa) and 73% (Cuomo).
- Mamdani has the highest favorable rating (43%) and the lowest unfavorable (35%), with Cuomo favorable to 37% and unfavorable to 52%, and Sliwa favorable to 27% and unfavorable to 40%.
- Mamdani is considered most ethical (53%), followed by Sliwa (41%) and Cuomo (34%).
- Cuomo, the former governor, came out on top for experience, with 73% saying he has the right kind of experience, compared with 39% for Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Astoria, Queens, and 24% for Sliwa, the talk radio host and Guardian Angels founder.
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Regardless of how those surveyed plan to vote, pollsters asked whether their sympathies are more with Israelis or Palestinians: 43% said Palestinians, and 22% said Israelis, with 34% offering no opinion.
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Among those polled, 41% said Mamdani's views on the conflict most reflected theirs, compared to 26% for Cuomo and 13% for Sliwa.
The campaigns each used prepared statements reacting to the poll:
- Sliwa said: “The only poll that matters is one on Election Day. We all know Andrew Cuomo was measuring the drapes at Gracie Mansion back in June. We see how that worked out.”
- “As the billionaires continue to throw out their last-ditched efforts to prop up Andrew Cuomo, we have genuine enthusiasm and 80,000 volunteers on our side. Last time, it wasn’t the billionaires who won that matchup," said Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec.
- Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, “Today’s Quinnipiac poll confirms what New Yorkers are seeing across the five boroughs — this race is shifting decisively.”
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
