Democratic incumbent New York Attorney General Letitia James’ advantage over Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy has narrowed to six percentage points following the GOP underdog’s strong debate showing, according to a new Republican internal poll.
James leads Komatireddy 50.7% to 44.7% in the survey conducted for the Republican campaign and obtained by The Post. That margin is roughly half the 13-point lead James held in a Siena University poll released last month.
Approximately 4% of likely voters remain undecided, the latest poll found.
The survey analysis attributed much of Komatireddy’s gains to her performance in the Oct. 8 debate. The former federal prosecutor has used the appearance to build momentum in the final stretch of a difficult campaign in heavily Democratic New York.
“Letitia James sits at 50.7% with her negatives rising; Saritha Komatireddy is at 44.7% with a +15 net image,” OnMessage Inc., the Republican campaign’s pollster, wrote in an Oct. 15 memo.
“The final three weeks are about one thing: putting Saritha in front of the voters who have not seen her yet, because the ones who saw her debate are breaking to her by four to one.”
One in five likely voters surveyed said they watched the debate.
Among those viewers, Komatireddy led James by an overwhelming 81% to 19%, according to the poll.
By contrast, James held a 59% to 36% advantage among voters who did not watch the debate.
“That gap is the whole campaign in one number: the undecided and soft voters who see Saritha make the case against James move to her, and the ones who have not seen it stay with the incumbent simply by default,” OnMessage wrote.
OnMessage surveyed 1,000 likely New York voters from Oct. 12 through Oct. 14. The poll has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
The poll also found movement among registered independent voters.
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In May, James held a three-point advantage with independents, with 40% viewing her favorably and 37% unfavorably while the rest remained undecided or neutral.
James is now 11 points underwater among voters unaffiliated with either major party, with 40% rating her favorably and 51% unfavorably. Many of those negative ratings were described as “very unfavorable.”
Komatireddy currently leads James among independents, 49% to 43%.
“This is where a well-funded closing message makes the difference,” the Republican pollster said.
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Komatireddy is also ahead in several regions where Republicans typically need strong support to compete statewide.
She leads James on Long Island, 57% to 41%; in the broader downstate suburbs, 54% to 44%; and upstate, 50% to 44%.
James maintains her overall advantage largely because of her commanding lead in New York City, where she outpaces Komatireddy 65% to 30%.
Komatireddy leads among men, 53% to 43%; voters without college degrees, 50% to 45%; and voters ages 46 to 55, 51% to 46%, the survey found. The memo did not provide James’ margin among women.
The analysis noted that James defeated her underfunded Republican challenger, Michael Henry, by nine percentage points when she won reelection in 2022.
But Komatireddy will have to peel away some soft or persuadable James backers to pull off an upset, the pollster noted.
Polling analyst Nate Silver gave OnMessage an A rating as one of the most accurate pollsters during the 2024 election cycle.
As a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn’s Eastern District of New York, Komatireddy handled some of its most high-profile cases involving international terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and public corruption.
James has meanwhile filed numerous lawsuits to block controversial actions taken by the Trump administration, including for allegedly providing energy companies $1.4 billion in funds to cancel four critical offshore wind projects, and on other funding and policy issues.
James has garnered nationwide attention for prosecuting Trump and his namesake company for fraudulent practices.
“Saritha Komatireddy wouldn’t protect New Yorkers from fraudsters or the federal government, because they’re the ones propping up her candidacy,’’ a James campaign spokeswoman told The Post on Sunday when asked about the new poll.
“Trump endorsed her, and she’d repay him by looking the other way while he sows chaos in New York.”
James also commissioned a sexual misconduct probe of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo that triggered the Democrat’s resignation from office in 2021, even as he denied wrongdoing.
“There has been a tremendous surge of interest in Saritha and her vision for New York since her overwhelming debate victory over Ms. James,’’ said Saritha for New York campaign manager Isabelle Daigle to The Post.
“We’re seeing Democrats and independents joining with Republicans all across the state because of Saritha’s no-nonsense, apolitical approach to crime, homelessness, and fraud.
“Our polling data is internal, but we’re happy to report that we have extraordinary momentum on our side going into the final two weeks of this election. We like where we are, while understanding that we will have to work twice as hard to earn the individual votes of New Yorkers of all backgrounds over the next 15 days.”
