Following Mayor Eric Adams’ exit from the race for City Hall, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo gained a major bump in support as he tries to close the gap with Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, according to a new survey from Quinnipiac University out Thursday.
In Quinnipiac’s latest poll of 1,015 likely voters, taken Oct. 3-7, Cuomo saw a 10% uptick in his vote share to 33% from 23% — where it stood in the university’s last survey on Sept. 10. Cuomo’s boost appears to have come directly from him picking up support from likely voters of Mayor Adams, who dropped his reelection bid on Sept. 28. Adams’ name, however, will remain on the Nov. 4 ballot, meaning that some voters may still select him.
Even with Cuomo receiving a surge of support, the poll still shows Mamdani leading the three-way contest by double digits, with 46% of the vote — a 13% lead. Mamdani’s support grew by just 1% between Quinnipiac’s Sept. 10 poll and the new survey released Thursday.
Republican Curtis Sliwa, meanwhile, remains in third place with 15% support, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of +/- 3.9%.
“The numbers changed, but the contours of the race haven’t. Andrew Cuomo picked up the bulk of Adams’ supporters, cutting into Zohran Mamdani’s lead, but Mamdani’s frontrunner status by double digits stays intact,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Mary Snow in a statement.
Nevertheless, Cuomo’s campaign spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, quickly took a victory lap over the former governor’s improved standing on Thursday afternoon.
“Today’s Quinnipiac poll confirms what New Yorkers are seeing across the five boroughs — this race is shifting decisively,” Azzopardi said in a statement. “Andrew Cuomo is up 10 points since September, while Zohran Mamdani remains stagnant and Curtis Sliwa continues to fade away.”
Azzopardi added that Cuomo has seen “a surge in fundraising, endorsements, and volunteers” in the nearly two weeks since Adams bowed out of the race. The former governor nearly doubled his fundraising haul from the previous filing period, his campaign reported last week, and was awarded $2.3 million in public matching funds by the city Campaign Finance Board on Thursday.
Mamdani is not curbing his enthusiasm
Mamdani’s spokesperson, Dora Pekec, brushed off Cuomo’s polling gains in a statement.
“Zohran is meeting voters every day in all five boroughs, who are ready to turn the page on the broken politics of the past and build a city everyone can afford,” Pekec said. “As the billionaires continue to throw out their last-ditched efforts to prop up Andrew Cuomo, we have genuine enthusiasm and 80,000 volunteers on our side. Last time, it wasn’t the billionaires who won that matchup.”
Thursday’s Quinnipiac survey showed a sizable enthusiasm gap between Mamdani and Cuomo among their likely voters.
Ninety percent of likely voters backing Mamdani are either very (56%) or somewhat (34%) enthusiastic about him. By contrast, only 69% of Cuomo supporters are either very enthusiastic (28%) or somewhat enthusiastic (41%).
Sliwa’s voters were also far more enthusiastic than Cuomo’s. Eighty-five percent said they were either very (52%) or somewhat (33%) about the Republican nominee.
Furthermore, Mamdani leads among Democrats (60%), independents (41%), and across most demographic groups — including Black (48%), Hispanic (50%), and Asian (67%) likely voters. He still holds an advantage in every borough except Staten Island and with voters under 49.
The poll also shows that more voters believe Mamdani would be better at handling certain issues and that there is not much difference between him and Cuomo on others.
For instance, 48% of those polled believe Mamdani would be better at lowering housing costs, while 25% prefer Cuomo. But when it comes to dealing with President Trump, Mamdani only leads Cuomo by one point — 35% to 34%.
“Much has been said about the issue not on the ballot but looming over the race: President Trump,” Snow said. “Both Mamdani and Cuomo make the case they’ll be the best guardrail over New York City’s interests under Trump. But voters don’t see much daylight between them.”
