One week before the New York City mayoral election, a new poll shows former New York governor Andrew Cuomo narrowing the gap between himself and state representative Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters, released on Wednesday, put Mamdani ahead of Cuomo (43% to 33%), who is running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who received 14%. Some 9% said it was either undecided or unwilling to respond.
Earlier this month, Mamdani led Cuomo 46% to 33% among likely voters, with 15% for Sliwa and 5% either undecided or declined to answer.
“The candidates have made their case, early voting is underway, Zohran Mamdani has a 10-point lead over Andrew Cuomo with Curtis Sliwa a distant third, but one wild card remains,” stated Mary Snow, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll.
“The percentage of likely voters not weighing in has increased a bit since earlier this month, suggesting there’s room for movement in the final stretch,” Snow stated.
Mamdani, who would be the first Muslim American elected to lead the nation’s most populous city, initially refused to condemn the anti-Israel slogan “globalize the intifada” and has threatened to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to New York City.
He shed Jewish support, garnering only 16% of registered Jewish voters, down from 29% earlier in the month.
Cuomo was at 60%, the same percentage as in the earlier poll, which showed him picking up support from Jews who initially backed incumbent Mayor Eric Adams before he ended his candidacy.
Sliwa’s Jewish support rose from 8% to 12%, though the increase is within the poll’s margin of error. The percentage of undecided Jewish voters rose from 2% to 8%.
Three-quarters of registered Jewish voters—up eight points over the earlier poll—said that they view Mamdani unfavorably, while his favorable rating dropped to 15% from 22%.
But a poll by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, also released on Wednesday, gave Mamdani much better news. In that survey, he led Cuomo, 48% to 32% among likely voters, with 16% backing Sliwa and 3% undecided.
Mamdani fared better among Jewish voters than in the Quinnipiac poll, trailing Cuomo by 55% to 32%, with 11% for Sliwa. Mamdani was viewed unfavorably by 63% of Jewish voters and favorably by 36%, again better numbers than in the Quinnipiac survey.
The Quinnipiac poll of 911 New York City likely voters was conducted Oct. 23 to 27 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Marist survey of 792 likely voters was conducted Oct. 24 to 28 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
