With just six days before Election Day, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo still trails Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani by double digits but has cut into his lead, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
The telephone survey of 900 likely voters, conducted Oct. 23-27 across the city's five boroughs, showed Mamdani with a 10-point lead (43%-33%) over Cuomo, an independent candidate who was defeated by Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa stood at 14%, while 6% were undecided, and 3% declined to answer. The poll had a margin of error of ±4 percentage points.
Cuomo has narrowed the gap by 3 points since Quinnipiac's Oct. 9 poll, when Mamdani had a 46%-33% advantage.
"Make no mistake: The race is tightening, and Andrew Cuomo is closing in fast," Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a statement. "This is the second poll in a week showing Zohran Mamdani stuck below 45% of the vote — despite a lack of scrutiny and glowing press coverage — and Andrew Cuomo gaining."
The poll showed a stark contrast in support, with younger voters gravitating toward Mamdani and older voters toward Cuomo.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of those ages 18 to 34 support Mamdani, along with 50% of those ages 35 to 49. Just 20% of the youngest group back Cuomo, 7% support Sliwa, and 8% are undecided.
Among 35- to 49-year-olds, 25% back Cuomo, 13% support Sliwa, and 7% are undecided.
Among voters ages 50 to 64, 41% back Cuomo, 35% back Mamdani, and 17% support Sliwa, with 4% undecided.
For those 65 and older, 39% support Cuomo, 33% back Mamdani, 19% support Sliwa, and 3% are undecided.
"Most importantly — older voters are breaking hard for Cuomo, and they're the ones showing up early," Azzopardi said. "That's how you win in New York City."
"We've seen this movie before — in the [former Mayor Michael] Bloomberg and [former Mayor Rudy] Giuliani races, late polls missed the surge of real, working-class voters who turn out when it counts. The same thing is happening now."
"So while Mamdani continues to spew word salad, he's stuck in the mud. The momentum is with Andrew Cuomo — and it's only growing everyday."
Mamdani has the support of 59% of Democrats, while 31% back Cuomo. Cuomo has stronger support among Republicans than Sliwa, the party's candidate, by a 45%-44% margin.
Sliwa has resisted pressure to drop out so that more Republican votes could consolidate behind Cuomo. Some polls show a tighter race in a head-to-head matchup between Mamdani and Cuomo.
Among independents, 34% back Cuomo and Mamdani each, 18% support Sliwa, 10% are undecided, and 4% didn't respond.
Mamdani led in all five boroughs, but by just 1 point (39%-38%) over Cuomo in Brooklyn and 4 points (33%-29%) over Sliwa on Staten Island, where Cuomo was favored by 27%.
Mamdani's widest lead came in Manhattan, 23 points (52%-29%) over Cuomo. Mamdani also led Cuomo by 11 points (42%-31%) in Queens and 12 points (44%-32%) in the Bronx.
"The candidates have made their case, early voting is underway," Mary Snow, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, said in a news release. "Zohran Mamdani has a 10-point lead over Andrew Cuomo with Curtis Sliwa a distant third, but one wild card remains."
"The percentage of likely voters not weighing in has increased a bit since earlier this month, suggesting there's room for movement in the final stretch."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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