Andrew Yang leads the pack in new poll about NYC mayoral candidates
With just over 100 days to go before New York City’s mayoral primary, Andrew Yang continues to enjoy a significant lead over the competition.
He had support from 32% of likely Democratic voters in a poll released Monday by Emerson College, PIX 11 and NewsNation.
Yang was trailed by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who came in with 19%, and Maya Wiley, a former top legal adviser to Mayor de Blasio, who had 9%. Out of the pool of 1,128 likely voters, 17% were either undecided or supported a candidate who wasn’t listed.
The poll didn’t ask about name recognition. But a previous survey found Yang, who rose to national prominence during his unsuccessful 2020 run for president, to be the best known mayoral candidate in this year’s race.
“[Rivals] are taking shots at him because he’s a frontrunner but so far, the shots are having little impact because people know him better than they know anybody else,” political scientist Kenneth Sherrill of Hunter College told the Daily News.
Since Yang jumped in the race in January, he’s arguably received more media coverage than any of the other candidates, both for his signature proposal of basic income and campaign-trail moments like staving off a crazed attack on a photographer on the Staten Island Ferry.
“He comes across as a nice guy, a confident guy and he’s someone that you could trust to do things and it’s happening at a time when public confidence in elected officials is pretty low,” Sherrill said.
COVID is the most important issue for Yang supporters, according to the poll, with Adams supporters prioritizing housing and homelessness and Wiley backers, police reform.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who’s been eyeing Gracie Mansion for years, got support from just 6% of likely voters, the poll found. Nine other candidates, including ones with significant government experience, got 5% or less.
“Maybe the city’s mood is not for people who have been in politics,” Sherrill said.
De Blasio leaves office at the end of the year due to term limits. Whoever wins the June 22 Democratic primary is considered all but certain to win the general election in November.
