They\u2019re not sold on the socialist.<\/p>\n
A majority of New Yorkers\u00a0are uneasy about the possibility socialist Zohran Mamdani<\/a> will take over City Hall \u2014 as a new poll points to a potential mayoral horse race if the firebrand\u2019s opponents thin out the crowded field.<\/p>\n The proudly far-left Democratic nominee, maintained his frontrunner status in a four-way race with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/a>, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams<\/a> and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa<\/a>, according to the poll released Tuesday and paid for by Wick Insights.<\/p>\n The majority of New Yorkers have concerns about electing Zohran Mamdani as the next mayor of New York City. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n But the race becomes neck-and-neck if Mamdani only faces Andrew Cuomo in a head-to-head contest, although the poll found the Queens assemblyman carries the highest favorability of any mayoral candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cUnderstandably, Adams and Cuomo remain very unpopular,\u201d said political prognosticator Ken Frydman. <\/p>\n \u201cNeither of them will become more popular before Election Day. In fact, they may become even more unpopular by then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVoters tend to favor politicians with big smiles and winning personalities like Mamdani more than politicians with dour expressions and personalities like Cuomo.\u201d<\/p>\n A poll released Tuesday paid for by Wick Insights shows Mamdani is the current frontrunner in a four-way race for mayor ahead of incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. James Keivom<\/p>\n The poll \u2014 which surveyed 500 likely voters and did not include longshot independent candidate Jim Walden \u2014 provides a portrait of a New York City electorate not yet convinced about electing the untested Mamdani.<\/p>\n The lack of overwhelming support for the Democratic nominee, who has failed to gain the party establishment\u2019s backing, could be because New Yorkers are still uneasy about electing a socialist mayor.<\/p>\n The poll shows just 46% of voters would welcome a socialist mayor, while 44% say they would oppose one in Gracie Mansion.<\/p>\n Political prognosticator Ken Frydman notes, \u201cAdams and Cuomo remain very unpopular.\u201d John Roca for NY Post<\/p>\n A further 10% said they were not sure whether they\u2019d support or oppose electing a socialist mayor, the poll found.<\/p>\n And a slim majority of New Yorkers \u2014 53% \u2014 said Mamdani\u2019s dreamy socialist vision for the Big Apple won\u2019t work in the real world, according to the survey.<\/p>\n Mamdani, however, was viewed by roughly half of voters as the candidate most focused on the cost of living and to stand up for working people.<\/p>\n He was also the only mayoral candidate whose favorability wasn\u2019t deep underwater, although the percentage of voters who viewed him favorably \u2014 43% \u2014 was the same as those who did unfavorably.<\/p>\n The fresh-faced Democrat Mamdani was the clear frontrunner with 39% support in the four-way race with two independents \u2014 Adams and Cuomo \u2014 and the Republican Sliwa, the poll found.<\/p>\n Mamdani leads the four candidates in the poll, receiving 39% of the vote with Cuomo in second place at 21%, Sliwa at third place with 18%, and Adams finishing fourth, recording a lacking 9% from voters in the upcoming general election. Michael McWeeney<\/p>\n Cuomo, who was trounced by the upstart socialist in the Democratic primary in June, held onto his second-place status with 21%, while Sliwa came in third with 18%.<\/p>\n In a distant fourth, the poll had Adams with an abysmal 9% of support.<\/p>\n Mamdani would also handily beat Adams and Sliwa in face-to-face contests, but it was a different story with Cuomo, the poll found.<\/p>\n Cuomo came in just slightly ahead of Mamdani, 42% to 41%, well within the margin of error for the poll. <\/p>\n But political insiders have been leery of taking too much stock in a single poll after the Democratic primary took nearly all of them off guard.<\/p>\n Nearly every poll, save one<\/a>, had Cuomo beating Mamdani in the ranked-choice primary \u2014 although they did show the socialist steadily narrowing the gap.<\/p>\n