Democratic Socialist Mamdani Puts Dent in Cuomo's Lead in NYC Mayoral Race

New York City mayoral candidate and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who is running on a platform focused on affordability, is chipping away at former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's lead in the race ahead of the June 24 primary, which will be conducted via ranked choice voting.

Results of a poll from Emerson College Polling, PIX11, and The Hill released on Wednesday found that in the first round of voting, 35% of voters support Cuomo, 23% support Mamdani, a democratic socialist, and 11% support city Comptroller Brad Lander.

The new poll shows other candidates, such as former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, earning less than 10% of the vote. The survey was conducted from May 23-26 among 1,000 registered voters, including 606 Democratic primary voters.

In the tenth round of rank choice simulation, Cuomo wins with 54% of the vote and Mamdani earns 46%, a gap of 8 points, according to the poll.

A Marist poll from earlier in May had Cuomo prevailing over Mamdani in the fifth round by 24 points, when excluding undecided voters.

"We're now 8 points away from sending Andrew Cuomo back to the suburbs," Mamdani wrote on X on Wednesday, reacting to the most recent poll results.

According to The Hill, Cuomo's spokesperson downplayed the results of the poll and emphasized that Cuomo remains the frontrunner.

Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 following the release of a report which found that he had sexually harassed several women. He denies wrongdoing. He officially entered the mayoral race in March.

Waleed Shahid, a communications and political strategist, offered his analysis of the poll on Thursday, writing that "to break through, Mamdani has to become the default progressive choice—not just for the left, but for the white liberals who likely backed [Elizabeth] Warren, [Pete] Buttigieg, and [Joe] Biden in 2020," speaking of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. "And it also means making real inroads into Cuomo's base—especially Black voters and moderate Manhattanites."

Shahid appeared to direct other candidates who are broadly considered to the left of Cuomo to drop out.

"If you're nowhere near 2nd (Stringer, Ramos, Myrie, etc.), work through your five stages of political grief. Take one for the team... and stop wasting time to protect your pride. This city's bigger than any one person," he wrote.

Bill Neidhardt, a political strategist, who, according to Gothamist, is an adviser for New Yorkers for Lower Costs, a political action committee supporting Mamdani, referenced the polling results and wrote on Thursday: "Democrats need to CONSOLIDATE behind Mamdani."

The most recent poll came a day after Mamdani announced the top lines of an internal poll that has him earning 27% in the first round while Cuomo notches 40% of the vote. In the final round, that internal poll has Cuomo prevailing in the final round of voting with 56% of the vote compared to Mamdani's 44%.

Mamdani has become a viable contender in the race in part because of an impressive ground game. Volunteers with his campaign have knocked on 600,000 doors around the city, according to a statement sent to multiple outlets this week.