NEW YORK CITY—A recent mayoral election poll shows former governor Andrew Cuomo far ahead with a growing lead, while Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani shot up to second place from the bottom of the stack for the November 2025 election.
Cuomo’s 38 percent lead is up from 33 percent in February, before he had even announced his run for mayor. The growth in popularity comes in spite of recent criticisms from other candidates, who called out his handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as his sexual assault allegations.
Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, analyzed Cuomo’s current state in the election in a statement: “With about three months until the Democratic Primary, Governor Cuomo has emerged as the top candidate in the race, with no clear alternative emerging among Democratic voters.”
Cuomo boasts support from older generations and minorities, Kimball explained.
“Cuomo’s support generally increases as voters’ age increases, going from 21% among voters under 30 to 44% of voters over 70. Ramos and Mamdani split the youth vote (under 30) at 16% each. Black and Hispanic voters are behind Cuomo at 47% and 45% support.”
Cuomo is running on housing affordability, public and subway safety, a “clean and liveable city,” addressing homelessness and mental health, and fighting anti-Semitism.
The other notable change shown in the polling data is Mamdani’s jump from 1 percent to 10 percent of Democratic voters’ top pick. This puts him second in the race, over Adams’s 8 percent.
Mamdani uses short and punchy videos to spread his message on platforms like X, YouTube, and Instagram, and he has millions of views across his media accounts.
As a progressive, Mamdani’s major running points include freezing rent for rent-stabilized apartments, improving buses and making them free, making child care free, and creating city-owned grocery stores that sell produce at wholesale prices.
The study found that in a hypothetical general election with Eric Adams running as an independent against Democratic nominee Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and independent Jim Walden, Cuomo would win with 43 percent of the vote, 13 percent would vote for Sliwa, 11 would vote for Adams, and Walden would take 4 percent.
Data from Emerson College shows that 66 percent of polled New Yorkers disapprove of Adams’s job as mayor, and about 18 percent approve of his performance. The mayor’s stance of cooperation with the Trump White House is also unpopular, with 63 percent saying they want the next mayor to stand up to the current administration.
A third of respondents said the mayor’s priority should be public safety, 23 percent said it should be housing, and 10 percent the immigration crisis. Health care, homelessness, and jobs polled in the single digits.
In line with the focus of safety, 48 percent of people polled said the NYC subway has become less safe, while 20 percent said the metro has improved, and 32 percent said it has stayed the same.
Meanwhile, 46 percent of polled voters wanted to keep the city’s sanctuary laws, compared to 34 percent who want them repealed. The unsure made up 19 percent.
Kimball said, “All age groups think NYC should remain a sanctuary city rather than repeal sanctuary laws, though intensity to remain is higher among voters under 40 and over 70, at 50% each.”
Congestion pricing proves to be a divisive subject, with 44 percent saying it should end, 42 percent saying it should continue, and 14 percent unsure.
“White voters are most supportive of congestion pricing continuing, at 51%, while Black and Asian voters oppose it most strongly at 53% and 52%, respectively,” Kimball noted.
The sample size for the polls conducted by Emerson College was 1,000 New Yorkers, 653 of whom were Democratic Primary voters. The margin of error is 3 percent. The poll was conducted via text or automated landline calls.
