Poll Shows 25-Point Mamdani Lead Over Cuomo as Frantic GOP Fearmongers Over ‘Socialist Uprising’

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday delivered a frantic warning about progressive New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as new polls showed him with a big lead over top rival Andrew Cuomo.

During a news conference at the US Capitol, Johnson attacked Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for giving a lukewarm endorsement of Mamdani last week and accused the entire Democratic Party of embracing "Marxism."

"By endorsing Mamdani, Hakeem Jeffries has endorsed and co-owned his positions, his past statements, his Marxist playbook, and everything else that guy espouses," Johnson said. "So too does every single House Democrat who will be inviting their leader, Jeffries, to their campaigns."

Johnson also said that Mamdani's candidacy was part of a "socialist uprising," and that "we have the responsibility to call out and sound the alarms" about his rise to power.

The "socialist uprising" that Johnson suggested people across the country should fear includes policy proposals like an expansion of a fare-free public bus pilot program, a network of city-owned grocery stores, and a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments—which has already been enacted at least three times in New York City.

During a Wednesday interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Cuomo accused Mamdani of being "totally out of sync with how New Yorkers feel," and then pointed to the fact that Mamdani has "dual citizenship" between the US and Uganda.

"His parents own a mansion in Uganda, he spent a lot of time there," Cuomo said. "He just doesn't understand the New York culture, the New York values, what 9/11 meant, what entrepreneurial growth means, what opportunity means, why people came here."

Two polls released on Thursday, however, indicated that fear-mongering about Mamdani appears to be falling on deaf ears.

As reported by Spectrum News, an Emerson College poll showed Mamdani hitting the 50% threshold among likely voters, with Cuomo trailing by 25 percentage points. A poll from Marist, meanwhile, showed Mamdani winning 48% of likely voters, with Cuomo receiving 32%.

Although the Marist poll was better for Cuomo than the Emerson poll, it also showed that Mamdani would likely win the election even if Republican Curtis Sliwa dropped out of the race at the last minute, as Mamdani in a theoretical head-to-head matchup with Cuomo still maintained a lead of seven percentage points.

Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, told Spectrum News that Mamdani's voter coalition appears to be strong heading into next week's election, as he has improved his standing among Black voters while maintaining significant advantages among young voters.

In fact, noted Kimball, Mamdani even has a plurality of voters over the age of 50, whose support Cuomo needs to pull off an upset victory.

CNN polling expert Harry Enten argued on Thursday that the latest polls show Mamdani is the overwhelming favorite to win the election.

"Unless there's a historically unprecedented poll miss, some Cuomo fans are living in a fantasy world when it comes to the NYC mayoral race," he wrote on X. "Mamdani has, if anything, widened his big lead since September. Also, early voting stats are consistent with polls showing a Mamdani win."