Almost 800,000 New Yorkers are planning to flee the city if Democrat candidate Zohran Mamdani wins Tuesday's mayoral election, according to a poll carried out by J.L. Partners for the Daily Mail.
The survey found that 9% of New Yorkers would "definitely" leave the city, which currently has a population of some 8.5 million.
If those numbers were to depart, it would be equivalent to the entire population of Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, or Seattle fleeing the city.
In addition, according to the survey, a further 25% of New Yorkers, or 2.12 million, would "consider" leaving.
The poll revealed widespread alarm at the prospect of Mamdani capturing the election and highlighted the enormous economic impact a victory for the 34-year-old state assemblyman could have.
To illustrate this, the survey also found that 7% of those earning more than $250,000 annually would definitely leave the city if Mamdani wins, which is of particular significance because the top 1% of earners in New York pay approximately half the city's income taxes.
Emerging as top destinations for those considering fleeing New York are the Carolinas, Florida, and Tennessee due to lower income and property taxes in those states.
Pollster James Johnson, of J.L. Partners, said "older New Yorkers, Staten Islanders, and white voters are the most likely to say they would pack up and leave."
Experts told the Daily Mail that wealthy New Yorkers are already selling their apartments in anticipation of Mamdani winning, and others are pulling out of deals to buy homes in the city.
"These people are not thrilled about the possibility of Mamdani winning," said New York realtor Jay Batra. "They don't want to hear about Mamdani and the rent freeze he is proposing."
The poll was conducted between Oct. 23 and 26 among 500 registered voters and had a margin of error of ±4.4 percentage points.
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