Zohran Mamdani received the Democratic nomination for mayor within the June main.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
A brand new ballot within the NYC Mayor’s race launched Friday confirmed that Meeting Member and Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-Queens) leads the sphere amongst registered Jewish voters.
The ballot, performed by GQR with Jewish advocacy group New York Solidarity Community (NYSN), surveyed 800 Jewish voters and decided that 37% assist Mamdani’s candidacy, whereas 25% assist Mayor Eric Adams, 21% assist former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and 14% assist Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. The ballot has a margin of error of +/- 3.46%.
Although Mamdani appears to have plurality assist, the survey discovered that there stays quite a lot of distrust amongst Jewish voters over whether or not he can adequately assist and defend them as mayor.
NYSN, aiming to look at the emotions of Jewish voters in a uniquely heated race for Metropolis Corridor, additionally present in its ballot that 58% of Jewish voters fear that New York Metropolis could be much less secure for Jews if Mamdani have been elected mayor. Furthermore, greater than half of surveyed Jewish voters (51%) stated they consider Mamdani is antisemitic.
NYSN Director Sara Forman stated the group “really wanted to try to understand where Jewish voters are in this moment.”
One in all Forman’s most important takeaways from the ballot was that Israel is “not a wedge issue for Jews as much as it’s being portrayed by other surveys that not they weren’t nearly as comprehensive as this.”
“We saw overwhelmingly, 66% of all of those surveyed, still consider themselves to be pro-Israel, even in this moment,” Forman stated. “I think that’s a very important takeaway.”
Mamdani has confronted criticism for his refusal to outright condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which some hear as a name to violence towards Jewish folks and others hear as a name for Palestinian liberation. The Meeting member has additionally been crucial of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid Israel’s battle in Gaza — stances which have led some to accuse the 33-year-old democratic socialist of antisemitism.
In response to such accusations, Mamdani has emphasised his dedication to assembly with Jewish neighborhood leaders, participating in discourse, and defending New Yorkers towards hate and discrimination.
“Zohran holds the support of thousands of Jewish New Yorkers who trust him to make this city more affordable and to protect their safety,” Mamdani spokesperson Jeffrey Lerner wrote in a press release to New York News. “They’re also tired of seeing Jewish suffering be cynically exploited for personal gain from the likes of Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams. Zohran remains committed to meeting with Jewish elected officials and community leaders, and hearing from Jewish New Yorkers directly in the coming months.”
Cuomo has continued to lift considerations about Mamdani’s monitor file on Israel, and Adams has stated that Mamdani’s rhetoric is antisemitic. With little assist left within the Democratic get together, Adams is working as an unbiased in November on the “EndAntisemitism” get together line.
Antisemitism a key challenge
The NYSN ballot discovered that three in 4 Jewish voters are involved about antisemitism in New York Metropolis — 42% of these surveyed suppose it’s a “somewhat serious problem” whereas 32% suppose it’s a “very serious problem.” Meanwhilek, 63% of these surveyed stated they suppose the phrase “globalize the intifada,” generally chanted at pro-Palestinian protests, is antisemitic.
Although most of these surveyed stated they suppose antisemitism is an issue, the bulk additionally stated that native points “like crime and affordability” are extra necessary than Israel and antisemitism within the upcoming basic election.
The ballot discovered that amongst these surveyed who assist Mamdani, the best driving components are his commitments to tax the wealthy, improve entry to inexpensive housing, and “focus more on mental health officers rather than police to stop crime before it happens.” Seventeen % of Jewish Mamdani supporters stated his “position on Israel, Palestinians and the War in Gaza” is a top-three issue of their determination to vote for him.
A ballot launched earlier this week by Knowledge for Progress and the Institute for Center East Understanding Coverage Undertaking discovered that Mamdani’s “support for Palestinian rights” and “willingness to criticize the Israeli government” helped him win the June Democratic main race, through which he delivered Cuomo a shock defeat.
Within the NYSN ballot, Mamdani discovered most of his assist amongst youthful, much less observant Jewish voters versus older, observant voters who principally swung for Adams and Cuomo.
In regard to making sure Jewish security and combatting antisemitism, 85% of these surveyed stated it could be necessary that Mamdani, if elected mayor, keep a “strong police presence in front of synagogues during Jewish high holidays,” 83% stated it could be necessary that Mamdani improve “city-wide efforts to reduce antisemitism in New York City,” 74% stated it could be necessary to take care of “current police policy to route anti-Israel protests away from Jewish communities, synagogues and schools,” and 74% stated it could be necessary for Mamdani to take care of “current city funding to all Jewish nonprofit organizations.”
Mamdani has signaled that he would think about protecting NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch in her present position.
Forman emphasised that although Mamdani leads amongst Jewish voters, most Jewish voters are against his candidacy.
“The issue here is that it’s a divided field, so their loyalties are not with one sole candidate,” Forman stated. “The majority of them, though, when you add them up, 60% do not support Mamdani, so we’re not even close to being in a situation where the majority of the Jewish community supports Zohran Mamdani for mayor.”
