Mamdani Overtakes Cuomo in Latest NYC Mayoral Primary Poll

A recent poll shows a surprising surge in support for Zohran Mamdani, overtaking former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the NYC mayoral primary.

The Details: The Emerson College Polling/Pix 11/The Hill survey revealed that Mamdani surpassed Cuomo in the eighth round of the simulated ranked choice voting, 51.8% to 48. The poll was conducted between June 18-20 and showed that Mamdani's support has surged from 1% to 32% over five months. Cuomo, on the other hand, finished near where he began. This shift was reflected on Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market headquartered in New York City, which suggests Mamdani is ahead in an average of polls.

For Context: NYC's ranked choice voting system allows a voter's other picks to still be in the mix and emerge as the eventual overall winner if their first choice is eliminated in successive rounds of calculations. Mamdani's surge in the poll is credited to city Comptroller Brad Lander's voters, who switched to Mamdani over Cuomo in the eighth round after Lander was eliminated with 20% of the vote. This is the third time New York City has used rank choice voting in its local primaries.

How the Media Covered It: The New York Post (Lean Right bias) highlighted the surge for Mamdani compared to Cuomo over five months. It also included a performance comparison between the leading candidates among different demographics, and other polls that showed Cuomo winning but Mamdani closing ground. Newsweek (Center) highlighted Mamdani's increased chances of beating Cuomo, and included quotes from public and political figures discussing the political shift among voters. Politico (Lean Left) provided an analysis of the campaign finance data, showing progressive voters' strategy of supporting multiple left-leaning candidates to deny Cuomo the Democratic primary and avoid incumbent Mayor Eric Adams.

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.