Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is the leading candidate in a hypothetical Democratic primary race for New York City mayor, according to a new poll of registered Democrats in the city.
The Quinnipiac University survey — which was conducted in the days before and after Cuomo announced his candidacy — shows Cuomo leading a list of 11 Democrats who have either already announced or who are seen as possible mayoral candidates.
Cuomo leads with 31 percent support among registered Democrats, while New York City mayor Eric Adams has 11 percent support in the survey.
Zohran Mamdani receives 8 percent support, Jumaane Williams receives 7 percent support, Scott Stringer receives 6 percent support, Brad Lander receives 5 percent support, Jessica Ramos and Adrienne Adams each receive 4 percent support; and Zellnor Myrie, Michael Blake and Whitney Tilson each receive 1 percent support.
Sixteen percent of voters surveyed say they are still undecided about who to back in the race.
“Three and a half years after scandals forced him to resign as New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo leads a crowded field of Democratic mayoral hopefuls with a boost from moderate Democrats,” Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Mary Snow said in a statement.
“A key number to watch: 16 percent, the slice of voters who are undecided as this race gains more attention,” Snow added.
Cuomo announced Saturday afternoon that he is running for New York City mayor, adding a big name to the already-busy Democratic primary trying to unseat Adams, who is running for reelection.
“Our city is in crisis. That’s why I am running to be Mayor of New York City,” he wrote on social platform X, along with a video. “We need government to work. We need effective leadership.”
Cuomo’s entrance comes as little surprise after months of speculation that he would attempt a political comeback years after resigning as governor amid multiple controversies that eventually engulfed his administration.
During the pandemic, Cuomo was an increasingly steady presence within the Democratic Party and became a regular fixture on television for his briefings. He even was briefly floated as a possible last-minute candidate for president in 2020.
But his administration was derailed as multiple women accused him of sexual harassment while in office. An independent investigation from state Attorney General Letitia James (D) found Cuomo had committed sexual harassment against almost a dozen women.
Cuomo rejected the report’s findings and has always denied all allegations against him, but he resigned in 2021 shortly after the report’s release, saying he didn’t want to distract from government functions.
His administration also faced accusations that it intentionally undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. A Justice Department inspector general report, released in January during the Biden administration, found that officials during President Trump’s first term may have violated the law in targeting investigations into this matter on states with Democratic governors despite other states having more significant quality of care issues in nursing homes.
Adams, meanwhile, similarly comes with his share of baggage, as he faces legal uncertainty surrounding federal corruption charges. He also has record-low approval ratings, driven by Democrats.
The Quinnipiac poll found that Adams’s approval rating is 20 percent, the lowest of any New York City mayor in the nearly 30 years since the university began polling the city’s registered voters. That low approval was driven by Democrats, 78 percent disapprove of the job Adams is doing, along with 63 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans.
The survey of 1,260 New York City self-identified registered voters was conducted on Feb. 27-March 3, with a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points. The survey included 771 self-identified registered Democrats with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
