Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani (left) and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’re each main candidates on this 12 months’s Democratic major for mayor.
File Pictures by Lloyd Mitchell
Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani seems to be gaining floor on former Gov. Andrew Cuomo within the crowded Democratic major to switch Mayor Eric Adams, a brand new Emerson Faculty/Pix11/The Hill ballot revealed on Wednesday.
The survey of 1,000 registered doubtless Democratic metropolis voters, carried out throughout Might 23-26, has Cuomo nabbing 35% of the vote to Mamdani’s 23% within the first spherical of ranked-choice — a 12 level distinction between the primary and second place candidates. However whereas the ballot’s ranked-choice simulation has Cuomo profitable within the tenth spherical with 54%, Mamdani is simply eight factors behind with 46%.
Mayor Adams was not a part of the survey, as he opted out of the first to run within the November basic election as an alternative as an unbiased.
The ballot reveals Mamdani considerably narrowing the hole between himself and Cuomo in comparison with a string of different latest surveys. It additionally comes after Mamdani launched an inside ballot on Tuesday that confirmed him performing higher within the first spherical, 27% to Cuomo’s 40%, within the first spherical.
“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,” mentioned Spencer Kimball, govt director of Emerson Faculty Polling, in an announcement. Kimball was evaluating Mamdani’s efficiency in Wednesday’s ballot with how he fared in a February Emerson survey, earlier than Cuomo formally entered the race.
“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,” he added.
Kimball mentioned Cuomo’s strongest assist comes from Black voters (74%), these over 50 (66%), and girls (58% to 42%); Mamdani is strongest amongst voters underneath 50 (61%), white voters (57% to 43%), and those that are college-educated (58% to 42%).
The ballot comes after Cuomo and Mamdani, together with a number of different candidates, have been airing TV advertisements for weeks. Mamdani’s advertisements have centered on introducing himself and his imaginative and prescient to voters whereas casting Cuomo as corrupt and beholden to moneyed pursuits over working folks.
Cuomo’s advertisements, in the meantime, have touted his report as a get-things-done governor previous to his resignation whereas portray the town as being in disaster and at a crossroads.
Campaigns’ takes
The Mamdani marketing campaign was fast to have a good time the survey outcomes, saying they present that Cuomo has “hit his ceiling, while we’re nowhere near ours.”
“In just a few weeks, we will defeat the disgraced ex-governor and send him back to the suburbs,” the marketing campaign mentioned in an announcement. “As the race enters the final stretch, our campaign will leverage an unprecedented field operation—which has knocked on more than 600,000 doors with over 25,000 volunteers—to bring our vision for a rent freeze, fast and free buses, cheaper groceries and universal childcare to as many New Yorkers as possible and win a city that everyone can afford to call home.”
Cuomo spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi mentioned the ballot “appears to be an outlier,” referencing different latest surveys the place Cuomo led Mamdani by at the least 19 factors within the first spherical and broke 50% within the fifth.
“The facts across the board remain the same — Andrew Cuomo is the consistent and overwhelming frontrunner in this race,” Azzopardi mentioned in an announcement. “That’s because New Yorkers know he is the only candidate in this race with the executive experience and the proven record of results to fix what’s broken and put this city back on the right track after 12 years of failed leadership.”
Coming behind Cuomo and Mamdani within the first spherical are metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander (11%), his predecessor Scott Stringer (10%), Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (8%), and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (5%). Lander is eradicated within the ninth spherical of ranked selection with 22%, whereas Stringer makes it to eigth spherical with 13%, and Speaker Adams to the seventh spherical with 10%.
The ballot additionally requested voters in regards to the preferences in a possible basic election matchup that features Cuomo because the Democratic candidate, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa because the Republican, and Adams and legal professional Jim Walden as independents. It has Cuomo profitable with a 44% plurality, Sliwa is available in second at 13%, Adams third at 10%, and Walden final at 7% with 26% undecided.
