NEW YORK − Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani may win the majority of voters in the New York City mayor’s race, according to a Fox News poll.

The poll, released Oct. 16, showed Mamdani, a democratic socialist state assemblyman, with 52% of likely voters and 49% among registered voters in the days leading up to the Nov. 4 election. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an independent candidate, trails Mamdani by more than 20 points, garnering 28% among both likely voters and registered voters.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa had around 13-14% support.

A week earlier, a Quinnipiac University poll showed Mamdani receiving 46% support compared to Cuomo’s 33% and Sliwa’s 15%. Cuomo’s support grew after Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race on Sept. 28, the poll showed.

However, the Fox News poll included Adams, since his name will appear on New Yorkers’ ballots in the Nov. 4 general election. Adams received 2-3% among voters, which could further hurt Cuomo’s chances of a comeback after he lost to Mamdani in the June Democratic primary.

“Today’s poll shows a majority of New Yorkers are rejecting Andrew Cuomo’s billionaire-backed politics of the past and joining Zohran Mamdani’s movement for a new kind of politics that answers to the people, not Donald Trump or the billionaire class,” Dora Pekec, a Mamdani campaign spokesperson, said in a statement referring to the heavy spending on Cuomo's behalf from Trump-supporting billionaires like Bill Ackman.

In lieu of providing comment on the poll, a spokesperson for Cuomo's campaign pointed to the ex-governor's appearance on “Sid and Friends in the Morning,” a conservative radio show.

In that appearance, Cuomo appealed to Republicans to vote for him instead of Sliwa to beat Mamdani.

“If Curtis is not in the race, I win,” he said. “And that’s the choice for Republicans.”

The Fox News poll sampled over 1,000 registered voters Oct. 10-14 who completed surveys over landline, cellphone or online through a text message.

Polling has consistently shown Mamdani, 33, ahead since his a upset win over Cuomo in a crowded Democratic primary.

A Sept. 24 Fox News poll showed most voters were looking for a significant change in city government. That poll showed Mamdani, a newer state lawmaker, compared to Cuomo, a three-term former governor who resigned after sexual harassment allegations.

Candidates launch new lines of attack in first debate

The results published ahead of the first mayoral debate in the general election. The two-hour event featured Mamdani and Cuomo separated in the middle by Sliwa at center stage.

Issues ranged from international − on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas − to local, such as parades reflecting the city’s diversity.

Cuomo attacked Mamdani for his views around past calls to “defund the police,” which Mamdani has disavowed. Cuomo and Sliwa also each critiqued Mamdani for not supporting Israel's existence as a Jewish state. Both of Mamdani's opponents also questioned how he could enact his signature platform − to freeze rents and make buses free.

Mamdani attacked Cuomo around his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and questioned his connections to Muslim New Yorkers.

Some of the sharpest critiques against Cuomo came from Sliwa. At one point, the three jostled with who would best fend off President Donald Trump, who has already withheld federal funds from the city.

“I know you think you’re the toughest guy alive, but let me tell you something,” Sliwa said to Cuomo. “You lost your own primary. You were rejected by your Democrats, and you have a difficult understanding of what the term 'no' is.”

Mamdani stood silently by, only to interject that he agreed with Sliwa.

The next and last debate is Oct. 22 on Spectrum News.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zohran Mamdani opens big lead in NYC mayor's race poll and candidates spar in debate

Reporting by Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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