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Socialist Surge: Mamdani Opens 22-Point Lead Over Cuomo in NYC Mayor’s Race According to Latest Poll

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  September 09, 2025 11:15 AM

Zohran Mamdani, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, has expanded his commanding lead in the New York City Mayoral race over Andrew Cuomo, according to the latest polling.

A New York Times/Siena College survey, polling likely voters between September 2 and September 6, found that if the mayoral election "were held today," Mamdani would receive 46 percent of the vote, with former Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, at only 24 percent. Cuomo is the only competitor in the race that stands a chance of beating Mamdani and preventing NY from descending into a socialist utopia.

The other candidates were even further behind, with the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, at 15 percent, and disgraced incumbent Mayor Eric Adams trailing at 9 percent. 

The poll also examined how voter preferences would shift if both Adams and Sliwa were to drop out of the race. Mamdani's 22-point lead shrinks to only 4 points, with Mamdani receiving 48 percent of the votes, and Cuomo receiving 44 percent.  

The poll also found that 52 percent of voters hold a favorable view of Mamdani, and 59 percent hold an unfavorable view of Cuomo. 

Mamdani’s supporters most often cite the city’s cost of living as the top issue, while voters backing Cuomo, Sliwa, and Adams identify crime as their primary concern. Crime has long been a reliable way to rally voters. Still, as America’s major cities grow more expensive and wages fail to keep pace, affordability is increasingly becoming just as important.

Republican candidates have an opportunity to actually make a defense of the free market that goes beyond simple tax cuts and a policy of non-interference. Maudani and his supporters get to champion taxing the rich and government intervention in the economy, while Republicans have not yet moved to counter that rhetoric with their own positive vision of policy to ease affordability.