A new poll shows what could happen if the New York City mayor’s race were a head-to-head matchup between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
According to the poll by Tulchin Research, if all candidates remain in the race, Mamdani still has the lead with 42%, followed by Cuomo with 26%, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa with 17%, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams with 9% and independent candidate Jim Walden with 3%.
The tantalizing question is, what would happen if Adams, Sliwa and Walden dropped out, leaving Cuomo and Mamdani in a two-person race?
The poll says if they went at it mano a mano, Cuomo would beat Mamdani, 52% to 41%.
Cuomo, Mamdani react to poll showing results of two-person race
Cuomo was smiling Wednesday at the result of the poll.
“That poll is right,” he said.
Cuomo was asked if he was calling for the other candidates to drop out, but he didn’t come right out with a yes or no answer.
“That poll is right,” Cuomo repeated.
Team Mamdani, meanwhile, was not impressed. A spokesperson released a statement saying:
“Everybody knows that Andrew Cuomo is Donald Trump’s choice candidate for mayor – they share the same billionaire donors, colluded on the race, and Trump himself said the two have ‘always gotten along.’ Trump knows Cuomo will aid and abet in his authoritarian spirals, serve billionaires and corporations instead of everyday New Yorkers, and continue the corruption that is dragging our city backward.”
The poll could help coalesce the various groups who are against Mamdani and get them to join forces for a united push. However, so far, Walden is the only one who has said he would be willing to get out of the race in favor of someone who could beat Mamdani.
Adams told CBS News New York political reporter Marcia Kramer on Wednesday that he is not getting out of the race and he believes he can beat both Cuomo and Mamdani.
In July, Sliwa said on an episode of CBS News New York’s “The Point with Marcia Kramer” that he would not drop out of the race to help Adams or Cuomo defeat Mamdani.
Election Day is Nov. 4.
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