Zohran Mamdani Leads NYC Mayoral Race Despite Past Stance

A majority of New York City voters are turned off by socialist Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s past anti-police stance — but he remains the candidate to beat for mayor, a new poll released Wednesday claims.

The survey by American Pulse Research & Polling finds Mamdani with support from 36.9% of general election voters, to 24.6% for Andrew Cuomo, 16.8% for Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and 11.4% for incumbent Eric Adams.

Mamdani’s lead over Cuomo doubled from 6 to 12 percentage points since the group’s prior poll in early July, mostly because the ex-governor’s support dropped since losing the Democratic primary to the lefty Queens Assemblyman.

Still, the poll suggests Mamdani could be more vulnerable if one or more rivals drop out of the race.

“Zohran Mamdani remains the candidate to beat,” said lead pollster Dustin Olson.

“However, this new survey also indicates that he can still be beaten….When crime and public safety enter the conversation, his ceiling shows.”

For example, 58.4% said his prior support to defund the police and scrap an NYPD strategic response group made them less likely to vote for him.

More voters said they would vote for “anyone else” than Mamdani by 6 points after hearing about his anti-NYPD statements.

Mamdani now claims he doesn’t support slashing police funding.

Nearly half — 45% of voters — said his policies are too extreme.

But the problem for rivals Cuomo and Adams is that they carry heavy political baggage and are more unpopular than Mamdani, according to the poll.

Fifty-five percent of voters have an unfavorable view of Cuomo, 65% of respondents had a negative view of Adams, and 45% were not fans of Sliwa.

Mamdani was the only candidate whom more voters viewed favorably by 4 points — 47.8% to 43.6% unfavorable — though he’s likely to face millions of dollars in attack ads and more scrutiny from now until the Nov. 4 election.

A staggering 68.7% of voters say they were less likely to vote for Adams because of Trump’s Justice Department dropping the corruption charges against him, and 53% said they were less likely to vote for Cuomo for approving the cashless bail law as governor.

The pollster also noted that Mamdani and Sliwa’s support may be understated and Cuomo and Adams’ overstated.

As party nominees, Mamdani and Sliwa will have more prominent placements at the top of the ballot, giving them an advantage, while Cuomo and Adams will be farther down on independent ballot lines.

Still, the poll found that Cuomo was within striking distance of Mamdani if either Adams or Sliwa hypothetically dropped out of the race. Sliwa and Adams said they’re staying in the race.

Without Sliwa in the race, Mamdani is in front with 38.3% to 32.3% for Cuomo and 20.4% for Adams.

Without Adams in the race, Mamdani is ahead with 38.5% to 30.3% for Cuomo and 23% for Sliwa.

Mamdani garnered 48% support from Democrats, or nearly half, in the poll.

His support will grow if he can rally more Democrats to his side.

Similarly, Sliwa received the backing of 53% of Republicans, and his support will increase if he can consolidate the GOP faithful.

American Pulse Research & Polling interviewed 638 likely voters from Aug. 14-19 via live phone calls and texts, and an online panel.

It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

A Gotham Polling & Analytics/AARP survey released Tuesday also showed Mamdani with a double-digit lead, but noted more voters souring on him.