De Blasio Surges to Healthy Lead in New NYC Mayoral Race Poll

The Quinnipiac poll found him with 36 percent, trailed by Quinn at 21 percent

A new poll finds Public Advocate Bill de Blasio with a healthy lead in the race to become the Democratic nominee for mayor.

De Blasio became the race's surprising new front-runner earlier this month, and his surge hasn't abated. He's now the choice of 36 percent of likely Democratic voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

That puts him near the 40 percent threshold that would prevent a runoff. If no candidate in the Sept. 10 primary hits that mark, the top two candidates advance to a runoff three weeks later.

The margin for second place is razor-thin: Christine Quinn is at 21 percent while Bill Thompson is at 20, within the sampling error of plus or minus 4 percent. Anthony Weiner trails with 8 percent, John Liu has 6 percent and 8 percent are undecided.

De Blasio, who's running on a more liberal platform than Quinn and Thompson, also sports big leads in hypothetical runoff matchups with his two closest rivals. He would beat Quinn, the former longtime front-runner, 59 percent to 30 percent and Thompson 52 percent to 36 percent, according to the poll.

Quinnipiac surveyed 602 likely Democratic primary voters from Thursday to Tuesday.

Former congressman Anthony Weiner, who briefly led the race until his support collapsed amid a new sexting scandal, has fallen to 8 percent. Comptroller John Liu is at 6.

De Blasio's support jumped from 30 percent in a Quinnipiac poll taken Aug. 13. His momentum appears connected to an ad campaign centered on his interracial family, a widely publicized fight to keep a Brooklyn hospital open and his calls for significant reforms to the NYPD, which has been heavily criticized recently for its stop-and-frisk policy.

And de Blasio's status as a Boston Red Sox fan doesn't appear to be hurting him as only 8 percent of New Yorkers surveyed said it would make them less likely to support a candidate.

Among those surveyed, 31 percent said there's a "good chance" they will change their minds about a candidate in the 13 days before the primary. Also, New Yorkers traditionally settle on a candidate late and the survey included only a few days after Quinn secured the endorsement of The New York Times, Daily News and New York Post.

The general election, which will include the Republican nominee and independent Adolfo Carrion Jr., will be held Nov. 5.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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