Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani continues to lead the New York City mayoral race, though his margin has narrowed since early October.
According to a Fox News poll released Thursday, Mamdani holds a 16-point lead among likely voters, with 47% support. Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo follows with 31%, while Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa trails at 15%.
The poll reflects a tightening race. In mid-October, Mamdani led by 24 points and had surpassed the 50% threshold with 52% support. Since then, Cuomo has gained three points, while Sliwa’s support has remained largely unchanged. Despite withdrawing from the race on September 28, current mayor Eric Adams still appears on the ballot and garners 2% support.
In a hypothetical two-way race, Mamdani’s lead shrinks to 10 points, as Cuomo gains among Republicans, older voters, women, and those without college degrees.
The poll also examined the importance of candidates’ positions on Israel. Nearly half (47%) of voters said the issue was extremely or very important to their vote, while 52% said it was somewhat or not at all important. Mamdani leads across all these groups by at least seven points.
Mamdani, who defeated Cuomo in the June Democratic primary, leading Cuomo to run as an independent, has faced criticism over his far-left positions and his anti-Israel stance. This includes his criticism of Israel on October 8, 2023 - just one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, as well as his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”.
He also recently declared that he would stop using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism.
In addition, Mamdani has repeatedly accused Israel of war crimes in its battle against Hamas in Gaza, and has vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City, citing the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu - even though the US is not a member of the ICC.
He has also come under fire after publicly campaigning with Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a figure named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.