He’s struggling to stay afloat.
According to a new poll conducted by political consulting firm Slingshot Strategies, Mayor Eric Adams is struggling to gain significant support in the general election, barely reaching double digits.
The polling results indicate that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is leading with 35% of the vote. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo is in second place with 25%, followed by Curtis Sliwa with 14%, and Adams trailing with just 11%.
Evan Roth Smith, founding partner at Slingshot, pointed out that although Mamdani’s 35% is not a majority, there is limited opportunity for an alternative to emerge. He mentioned that it would be challenging for either Cuomo or Adams—who have been clashing recently over who is a stronger opponent to Mamdani—to engage in a strong contest come November.
“The problem is the ballot is set. And the strongest Mamdani alternative in this poll is Andrew Cuomo, who just lost to him decisively in the Democratic primary,” he said, referencing Mamdani upsetting the former governor by nearly 125,000 votes.
“And the Mamdani alternative that seems to have the most momentum as a fresh alternative is Eric Adams, who’s polling barely in the double digits and seems to have lost credibility everywhere in the election.”
While Cuomo and Adams have gone on the offensive in recent weeks, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa recently told The Post that moderates were pushing Mamdani supporters away rather than winning them over and that he hoped to tap into the anger and hope from Mamdani’s campaign.
Roth Smith highlighted that the group most skeptical of Mamdani are older white homeowners in the outerboroughs but that they wouldn’t be guaranteed votes for either Adams or Cuomo in a general election.
“You have a large number of largely white, largely outerborough homeowners who are not necessarily Democrats, who are skeptical of Mamdani. The problem is getting those voters together behind either Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams seems to still be a pretty tall order and becomes even more difficult since they’re both in the race,” he said.
The poll found that Mamdani was lacking support from certain groups like male voters, non-college voters and those aged 45 to 64 – with the majority of these groups saying they would reject the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman at the ballot box.
The new poll also found that Hizzoner’s support has cratered among most demographic groups, even among once-reliable supporters, with only 16% of black respondents saying they would back the mayor in a general election.
The study also found that out of all the demographic groups polled, Adams received his highest support from Republicans at 26%.
“There’s simply not enough Republican support for someone who is a sitting Democratic mayor of New York,” Roth Smith said.
“So it’s really, really difficult when someone is polling at 11% and the ballot isn’t changing to see what the path to victory is.”
