Time is running out for the three main candidates crisscrossing New York, vying for votes and working to convince voters to join their coalition on the road to City Hall.
There is only one week left until Election Day and a new poll released Monday by Suffolk University Boston poll shows former Gov. Andrew Cuomo closing the gap with Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. Republican Curtis Sliwa still trails in third place.
Early voting kicked off on Saturday, and since then, tens of thousands of New Yorkers have packed the polls. The unofficial early counts have voting totals surging far beyond early totals in 2021; that election, however, was held in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest Suffolk poll of likely general election voters shows Cuomo has narrowed the gap between himself and Mamdani, the presumptive frontrunner.
Mamdani continues to lead with 44% of the vote over Cuomo’s 34%—while Sliwa is in the third position with 11%. The poll marks a significant surge by the former governor. Cuomo cut Mamdani’s lead by half since Suffolk’s last poll in September, which saw the assemblyman hold a nearly 20 point lead.
The poll released Monday surveyed 500 likely general election voters in New York City.
“There is one person in New York City whose voters could have an outsized impact on the outcome,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said.
“That person isn’t Mayor Eric Adams, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Chuck Schumer, or any New York billionaire. It’s Republican Curtis Sliwa, whose voters hold the 11% blocking Cuomo from winning the race. And when asked for their second choice, those voters preferred Cuomo over Mamdani 36%-2%.”
Early voting will continue in New York City each day through Sunday, Nov. 2. Opening and closing times vary by day.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4, when polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
