De Blasio Would Make Most NY Dems Unhappy As 2020 Nominee: Poll

NEW YORK — Bill de Blasio can't get much love from his own party. A solid majority of Empire State Democrats would be unhappy with New York City's mayor as the party's next presidential nominee, a new poll shows.

Some 65 percent of them said they would not be happy with de Blasio leading the party's 2020 ticket, according to the NBC 4 New York/Marist poll published Wednesday. Just a quarter said they would be happy if that were the case — the worst rate among the 10 potential candidates whom New Yorkers were asked about.

The leader was Joe Biden — 78 percent of New York Democrats would be happy with the former vice president as the nominee even though he has yet to formally launch a campaign.

"Despite a preference for a more progressive nominee, a Biden candidacy is tops for New York Democrats," Lee M. Miringoff, the director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a statement. "But, the biggest surprise is that none of the New Yorkers in the mix is benefitting from a home field advantage, especially New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio."

The bleak results came ahead of de Blasio's trip this weekend to South Carolina, the home of the South's earliest presidential primary. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, will also be there on Saturday.

The mayor downplayed his weak showing on Thursday, indicating once again that he has not ruled out a long-shot bid to unseat President Donald Trump.

"I have perennially been an underdog in any race I’ve been in," de Blasio said at an unrelated news conference. "It does not matter where you start, it matters where you end."

More than six in 10 New York Democrats favor a "more progressive" presidential nominee to a more moderate one, the poll found — a label with which de Blasio might identify.

Besides Biden, New Yorkers showed a strong preference for Sen. Bernie Sanders, another progressive figure who endorsed de Blasio in his 2017 re-election campaign. Some 61 percent of the state's Democrats said they would be happy with Sanders as their nominee while 35 percent said they would not be happy, the poll shows.

New Yorkers were split on New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is exploring a presidential campaign — 45 percent said they would be happy with her getting the White House nod while 40 percent would be unhappy. Democrats were even more narrowly split on former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said this week that he would stay out of the race.

Marist surveyed 981 New York adults, 410 of whom were registered Democrats, by telephone from Feb. 25 through March 4.