Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo speaks in the course of the New York Metropolis Democratic Mayoral Major Debate on the John Jay Faculty of Legal Justice within the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, in New York Metropolis, U.S., June 12, 2025. Vincent Alban/Pool by way of REUTERS
Andrew Cuomo continues to dominate the Democratic main for mayor even because the election tightens with lower than every week to go, in accordance with a Marist Ballot launched on Wednesday.
The previous governor broke 50% within the seventh spherical of ranked-choice voting, the Marist ballot calculated. Because the first-choice candidate of practically 4 in 10 doubtless left-leaning voters, together with those that are undecided, Cuomo outpaced fellow second-place candidate Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic socialist Meeting member from Queens who has greater than 1 / 4 of the vote, in accordance with the ballot.
However the hole between the 2 leaders is closing. Final month, Cuomo outpaced Mamdani as voters’ first selection by 19 factors; this time, the previous governor’s lead is down to 11.
“There’s been some slippage,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, mentioned. “The race is indeed a lot closer than it was.”
The remaining candidates are caught in single digits. Even contender metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander, who made headlines following his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers whereas defending migrants at immigration court docket on Tuesday, is way behidn, in accordance with Marist. The ballot was taken earlier than Tuesday’s incident.
“However, there is a big question mark in all this, and that is we are dealing with 11% who remain undecided,” Miringoff defined. “And then another 11% who don’t select either Cuomo or Mamdani in the ranked choice voting scheme.”
Basically, there are nonetheless votes up for grabs that may very well be crucial in figuring out the winner of the first. 11% of doubtless Democratic main voters are undecided on their first selection, and one other 11% don’t select Cuomo or Mamdani as one among their candidate choices at any level, in accordance with Marist evaluation.
“It could be a competitive race before all is said and done,” Miringoff mentioned.
Manhattan Institute ballot
In the meantime, the conservative Manhattan Institute launched a ballot on Tuesday that additionally reveals Cuomo within the lead, every week earlier than main day on June 24.
“This is the second poll in two days that showed Andrew Cuomo beginning and ending rank choice voting with a double-digit lead in a crowded multi-candidate race,” Cuomo spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi mentioned. “These are serious times and New Yorkers know that Andrew Cuomo is the only candidate with the experience and the real record of results to fix what’s broken and put the city back on the right track.”
Azzopardi didn’t draw back from taking a jab at Mamdani.
“This is no time for on-the-job training with a candidate who has barely held a job since graduating college, passed only three bills during his five years as a legislator, and then stopped showing up for work,” he mentioned.
New York News contacted Mamdani’s press workplace for remark and is awaiting a response.
