A Monday poll by Data for Progress gives new insight into the 2025 New York City mayoral election as the field of candidates for the November general election remains in flux.
The Data for Progress poll shows Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic primary winner, leading the field with 40% of polled individuals marking the 33-year-old as their top choice for mayor. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who appears to be nearing a decision on an independent campaign after losing to Mamdani and is expected to commit to the race in the coming days, is polling in second place with 24%.
Mayor Eric Adams, who is running on an independent line, polled third at 15%, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa is in fourth at 14%. Independent candidate Jim Walden is in fifth place with 1%; 5% of polled individuals remain unsure.
In individual favorability scores for each candidate, the Data for Progress poll shows Mamdani with the highest favorability among the five — and the only candidate with an overall positive favorability rating. Mamdani’s favorability rating is 49-40, Cuomo’s is 39-59, Adams’ is 29-70, Sliwa’s is 32-50, and Walden’s is 9-15 (most polled individuals had not heard enough about the attorney to give their favorability, according to the poll.)
Mamdani’s favorability rating of 49-40 is higher than that of the Democratic party itself, which scored at 49-49. The democratic socialist drew broad support in the primary election from progressives and young people fed up with the party establishment.
Adams gains favor with Republicans
Adams, who is running for reelection following a five-count criminal campaign fraud indictment that was dismissed in April, announced ahead of the Democratic primary that he would instead run for reelection as an independent. The Data for Progress poll showed the mayor gaining in popularity among Republicans as he runs on an increasingly centrist political line, hoping to court centrist Democrats and Republicans looking for an alternative to Mamdani.
Mamdani’s June victory over Cuomo in the Democratic primary defied most polls, which largely had Cuomo winning the race. In Data for Progress’ hypothetical general election matchup, Cuomo is the second-most popular candidate, but has serious ground to gain if he hopes to catch Mamdani in the fall.
Mamdani beat Cuomo in the primary by 12% after ranked-choice voting tabulation the week after the election, though the former governor had called Mamdani to concede less than two hours after polls closed as it became clear the evening was headed toward a blowout.
In addition to launching an official campaign for mayor, Cuomo is expected to announce this week that he will pledge to drop out of the race if he is not the highest-polling challenger to Mamdani by early September.
Walden had pitched the pledge to the election’s “free-market candidates” earlier this month, urging challengers to Mamdani to coalesce to defeat the democratic socialist. Several politicians and local leaders who had supported Cuomo in the primary have since given their support to Mamdani.
The Data for Progress poll also provides favorability ratings of prominent Democratic politicians, including City Comptroller Brad Lander, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens/The Bronx), Attorney General Letitia James, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Lander is favorable overall, with a favorability rating of 47-23. The poll shows favorability ratings of 46-47 for Hochul, 54-39 for Ocasio-Cortez, 55-29 for James, and 63-34 for Sanders.
