Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to hold a commanding lead in the Democratic primary field for the 2025 New York City mayor’s race, bolstered by strong support from older voters, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The poll from AARP New York and the Siena College Research Institute found Cuomo was the top first-choice pick among registered city voters, earning 34% support. After six candidates were eliminated in the ranked-choice voting system, Cuomo would win the election in the eighth round of counting with 54% of the vote.
In the first round, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani followed with 16%, while Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams each received 6%. In the final ranked round, Mamdani finished with 27%, followed by Lander with 19%. About 20% of those polled said they were still undecided.
Polling carried out in March had Democratic socialist Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani (Queens) at 18% behind Cuomo’s 41% of first-round Democratic primary votes.
Result of poll’s simulated ranked-choice voting
Cuomo’s strong showing – despite his 2021 resignation amid 11 allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies – was primarily driven by support from older voters, pollsters found. Among voters age 50 and older, Cuomo received 42% of first-choice votes, far ahead of any other candidate.
Cuomo also received the highest support among voters without a college degree, 48%. Among voters with a college degree, 27% said they would vote for him.
“Older New Yorkers are engaged, informed, and eager to shape the future of their city – and this poll shows their voices will make the difference in the race for mayor,” said Beth Finkel, AARP New York State Director in a statement. “The issues most important to older New Yorkers – affordability, housing, safety, and aging in place – must be front and center in this campaign. Candidates ignore older voters at their peril.”
The April 7–10 poll surveyed 811 registered New York City voters, including 556 registered Democrats. It found that affordability and housing are top issues for voters this year.
About 94% of voters said the cost of living in the city is a very serious or somewhat serious issue, while 88% identified the availability of affordable housing as a major problem.
“New Yorkers are giving the mayoral candidates a clear message — if you want my vote, tell me how you’re going to make life in the Big Apple more affordable and how you’re going to increase the supply of affordable housing,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute. “Crime remains a concern of voters, but over 90% say just affording life is a problem across all of New York City.”
On the issue of housing, Cuomo faced backlash from his rivals Monday over his housing plan, which was released over the weekend and included a reference to the artificial intelligence software ChatGPT.
Cuomo, who has led the field in polls and institutional support since entering the race on March 1, also suffered a major setback Tuesday when the New York City Campaign Finance Board announced it would not award him millions of dollars in public matching funds due to a technical error.
In the latest round of funding, Mamdani led the pack, with a reward of $3.8 million, close to what his campaign said it expected to receive last month.
