Mamdani Dominates Field But 1-On-1 Race With Cuomo Could Be Close: New Poll

NEW YORK CITY — Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani remains in the lead in a new mayor's race poll released on Tuesday, though in a one-on-one race with Andrew Cuomo his lead would narrow significantly.

Siena College and the New York Times surveyed 1,284 voters from Sept. 2 to 6 and found in a four-man race that Mamdani would lead the pack with 46 percent of the vote, Cuomo got 24 percent and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa ended up with 15 percent. Mayor Eric Adams finished with nine percent of the vote.

If both Sliwa and Adams were to drop out of the race and make it a two-person race, Cuomo would capture the vast majority of both Adams’ and Sliwa’s current support and win a majority of voters over forty-five, Siena Research Institute Director Don Levy said.

In that scenario, Mamdani’s 22-point lead would shrink to four points. Cuomo would need both Adams and Sliwa to drop out in order to close the gap, according to pollsters.

Other findings include:

• Mamdani holds a huge lead among younger voters, while voters forty-five and older are split between Cuomo and Mamdani in the four-way race
• A majority of New York City likely voters, 52 percent, have a favorable view of Mamdani while a majority, 59%, view Andrew Cuomo unfavorably.
• A plurality of Mamdani voters say the cost of living is the city’s number one issue, while voters that prefer Cuomo, Adams and Sliwa all are most likely to cite crime as their top issue.

“A lot could change in this race, if Adams and/or Sliwa drop out, or Mamdani could continue to ride his support among young voters and voters concerned about economic issues all the way to Gracie Mansion," Levy said.

Last Friday, Adams reiterated that he is still running for reelection, despite a New York Times report that claimed he could potentially drop out of the race and take a job with the Trump administration.

Sliwa has also said he would not drop out of the race and has no interest in a job at the White House.