Ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner has surged to within a few points of Democratic frontrunner Christine Quinn in the days after he announced his mayoral run, according to a new poll.
Weiner, who ended months of speculation by officially announcing his candidacy last week, is now the choice of 19% of the city’s registered Democrats, according to a survey released Tuesday by Marist College.
Quinn, the City Council Speaker, remained atop the poll, but her support fell to 24%. That is her lowest mark to this point in the campaign.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio placed third with 12%, followed by ex-Controller Bill Thompson at 11%, Controller John Liu at 8%, ex-councilman Sal Albanese at 1% and Rev. Erick Salgado at less than 1%. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed remain undecided.
Weiner’s support has grown now that he has entered the fray. Last month, when rumors began to circulate that he would join the race, a Marist poll placed him at 15%. Quinn had 26%.
Weiner’s run marks his return to politics after a sexting scandal led to his resignation from Congress in June 2011. A slight majority of voters – 53% – say he deserves a second chance while 39% say he does not have the character needed to be mayor. Also, 44% of those surveyed have negative impressions of him – the highest in the field, and a number that Weiner likely need to improve if he has any real chance of winning.
Meanwhile, Liu’s support has plummeted in the wake of a fundraising scandal that led to the convictions of two of his campaign staffers. He fell from third to fifth, and his support dropped four points from 12%.
With such a crowded, fractured field, it seems unlikely that any candidate will receive the 40% of the primary vote needed to avoid a run-off.
In that case, the top two finishers would square off again two weeks later – and Quinn remains ahead in the hypothetical two-person fields. But Thompson, and not Weiner, would come the closest to defeating her, according to the poll.
You can read the full poll here: May 28th Marist College mayor’s race poll.
Photo by Jonathan Lemire
