Surging mamdani cuts cuomo’s lead in democratic nyc mayoral primary to just single digits: poll

Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is surging, cutting ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s frontrunner status in the Democratic primary to just a single digit lead, according to a new

poll released Wednesday. The latest PIX 11/ Emerson College poll has the Queens state Assemblyman holding his own with Cuomo for 10 rounds of ranked-choice voting before being eliminated

with a nine-point spread, 54.4% to 45.6%. But with less than a month to the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary, only a small fraction of voters appear to be up for grabs, with 3.5% of voters

still undecided, according to the survey conducted May 23 to 26. “With four weeks to go, the question is whether Cuomo can run out the clock, or if he needs to win over second-choice voters

to hold off Mamdani’s momentum,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. In the ranked-choice simulation, the first for the pollster, the former governor

continued his strong first-round showing at 35% of the vote and Mamdani coming in second at 23%. EXPLORE MORE City Comptroller Brad Lander was third with 11%, followed by former Comptroller

Scott Stringer with 9%, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams with 8% and Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie with 5%. Round after round, the poll showed Mamdani continuing to gain ground by picking

up more of the second-choice votes from Democrats after their first-choice candidates were eliminated. Under the system, voters rank their top five candidates. A winner is only selected

after getting more than 50% of the vote, with the lowest-ranked contender dropping off each round. Those votes then fall to the next-ranked candidate who has yet to be eliminated. Playing

nice on the left has appeared to greatly benefit Mamdani, 33, who has formed a loose alliance with other candidates in a strategic bid to block the thrice-elected 67-year-old gov from making

a political comeback. The young Queens pol even urged supporters to donate funds to rival Adrienne Adams’ mayoral campaign to help her qualify for matching public funds, after he maxed out

his own coffers. He’s also part of the left-wing Working Families Party‘s preferred but unranked slate that also includes Adams — no relation to Mayor Eric Adams — Lander and Myrie. In

PIX11/Emerson’s prior poll in late March, Cuomo led 38% to 10% over Mamdani, after the assemblyman only garnered 1% support just weeks prior. In ranked-choice surveys by other pollsters,

Cuomo defeated Mamdani by double digits — including in the Mamdani campaign’s own poll released Tuesday. “Cuomo has led in the polls since early 2025, but Mamdani has surged, gaining 23

points and winning second-choice votes nearly 2-to-1, cutting Cuomo’s ranked-choice lead from 12 points to 9 points,” said Kimball. The primary election is June 24, with nine days of early

voting beginning June 14. Cuomo also cleans up in the general election in November — albeit far off. If elected as the Democratic nominee, Cuomo wins with 44% support, according to the poll.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa comes in second with 13%, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams as an independent ballot candidate in third with 10%, and another independent candidate, Jim Walden,

carves off 7%. With Mamdani as the Democratic nominee, 35% would support him in the election, to 16% for Sliwa, 15% Adams, and 6% for Walden. About one-quarter of general election voters are

undecided. Cuomo has managed to maintain nearly the same approval rating since jumping in the race, with this latest poll showing 41% of New Yorkers view him favorably while 47% view him

unfavorably. Adams, though, has failed to gain much ground with New Yorkers now that his historic federal criminal case was killed — only managing to muster 19% favorability while 69% view

him unfavorably. President Trump has managed to outperform Adams with 27% favorability, but his unfavorable rating matches the mayor at 69%. On other matters, half of New York City voters

think mass deportations of undocumented immigrants hurt the city, while 30% think they are a positive development and 20% are unsure. Nearly half of city voters — 49% — say their family’s

finances are worse off now than a year ago, 35% say they are about the same, and 16% say they are better off. START YOUR DAY WITH ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Morning Report delivers the latest

news, videos, photos and more. THANKS FOR SIGNING UP! Meanwhile, 61% of voters support making it easier for first responders to forcibly hospitalize mentally ill people who are determined

unable to meet their basic needs, while 13% are opposed and 26% are unsure. As for the Middle East, 46% do not think it is very important or somewhat important that the next mayor has a

pro-Israel stance, compared to 33% who believe it is important. The remaining 21% of respondents have no opinion. In the other citywide races, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is out

to a dominating lead over Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan, 51% to 23%, in the Democratic primary for comptroller.  But nearly a third of voters still remain undecided, which were not

included. Incumbent Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also runs away with the nomination, according to this poll, leading state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar 56 to 15. Five hundred Democrats

were sampled for the ranked choice voting simulation after excluding undecided voters. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. Overall, 1,000 registered

voters were interviewed overall for questions unrelated to the Democratic primary via phone, text survey and an online panel. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage

points. Mamdani’s camp hailed the poll’s findings as evidence that he has the momentum. “Andrew Cuomo has hit his ceiling, while we’re nowhere near ours,” the Mamdani campaign said. The

Cuomo campaign dismissed the Emerson survey as an “outlier” compared to other recent polls. “But the facts across the board remain the same — Andrew Cuomo is the consistent and overwhelming

frontrunner in this race,” said Cuomo campaign rep Rich Azzopardi.