Poll: Cuomo holds lead over Israel critic Mamdani in Democratic NYC mayoral race

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo maintains a significant lead over Israel critic Zohran Mamdani in the race to represent the Democratic Party in the New York City mayoral elections, a poll shows.

Cuomo is courting Jewish voters by speaking out against antisemitism in the US and supporting Israel, while Mamdani, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, has alarmed Jewish groups by surging to second place in polls.

The election will use ranked choice voting, a system that allows voters to choose their top five candidates in June’s Democratic party primary. In the mostly Democratic city, the winner of the primary will likely win the November general election, although incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent.

A Siena College poll finds that 34% of voters favor Cuomo as their first choice, followed by Mamdani with 16%. Jewish New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and Jewish former city comptroller Scott Stringer are tied at six percent.

The survey also plays out ranked choice votes. The system eliminates the last-place candidate through nine rounds of counting. At the final round, Cuomo leads Mamdani 64% to 36%.

The poll surveyed 811 registered Democratic voters in the city on April 7-10.