EXCLUSIVE: A recent poll shows that New Yorkers favor Zohran Mamdani for mayor over his opponents, despite President Donald Trump’s threats if the assemblyman were to walk away with the victory.
14:33 ET, 24 Oct 2025Updated 14:35 ET, 24 Oct 2025
A new poll shows that New Yorkers overwhelmingly would vote Zohran Mamdani for mayor over his opponents
With just two weeks left until the general election, a new poll shows that New Yorkers aren’t as afraid of Zohran Mamdani securing a win as Donald Trump believes they are.
In a major upset, Mamdani, a state assemblyman representing Queens, bested former Governor Andrew Cuomo and eight other candidates to become the Democratic nominee for mayor back in June. Despite Cuomo refusing to drop out of the race, polling still shows Mamdani ahead of his opponents.
An exclusive poll from the Democracy Institute asked a randomly selected sample of 1,900 New Yorkers who they would vote for if the election were being held at that moment. The choices were between Mamdani, Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
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Mamdani had a clear lead over his opponents in several categories. In general, Mamdani received 48% of the hypothetical vote compared to Cuomo’s 32% and Sliwa’s 20%. All of the candidates received the most votes with their respective parties — Cuomo, a Democrat, is running as an independent following his primary loss.
But among voters within each of the voters, Mamdani still remains the clear winner, even with a narrow victory in the Bronx and a tie with Sliwa in Staten Island.
New Yorkers aren’t worried about Mamdani’s ability to stand up to Trump(Image: Democracy Institute/Daily Mirror US)Not backing down
Participants were also asked if they were worried that Mamdani would not be able to stand up to Trump if he were elected mayor. Since returning to the White House, the president has made several threats against New York City, such as withholding federal funds and deploying the National Guard. These have only increased since Mamdani’s campaign gained traction.
“We have a Communist, 33 years old, doesn’t know a thing, probably never worked a day in his life, and he sort of caught on. I’m not going to send a lot of money to New York,” Trump, a native New Yorker, said at the White House last week. “We’re not going to ruin one of our great cities, because we’ll make that great. We will clean up the crime in about 30 days.”
Mamdani won the Democratic primary in what many called an upset victory(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Trump has already deployed troops in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Portland. “All of these cities, we want to clean them up,” he said. “We don’t like that opposition. But if somebody is going to be a communist mayor of New York. It’s a fluke if he gets in.”
Despite the president’s threats, Mamdani has the backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul and most of New York City, as 63% of voters said they weren’t worried about Mamdani’s potential interactions with Trump, according to the poll.
In another jab at Trump, who has repeatedly referred to Mamdani as a communist, New Yorkers were asked if they were supporting Mamdani for his socialist policies or to get back at the city’s elites. Mamdani’s platform has centered around making the city more affordable for residents, proposing fare-free city buses, public child care, and a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units.
According to the poll, roughly 44% supported Mamdani for his socialist policies, while a majority — 56% — voted against New York elites.
‘Unbeatable’
While the president has publicly criticized Mamdani, a recent report revealed that Trump told his allies in private that he considers Mamdani unbeatable in the upcoming mayor’s race. A White House official told the Wall Street Journal that Trump and his team believe Mamdani is on course to beat Cuomo and Sliwa on Nov. 4.
When speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reluctantly threw his support behind Cuomo, saying, “It’s really a question of would I rather have a Democrat or a communist? And I would rather have a Democrat than a communist.”
New Yorkers are days away from voting Mamdani in, according to the Mirror poll(Image: Democracy Institute/Daily Mirror US)
He added that if Sliwa were to drop out of the race, “maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance, but not much.”
Sliwa, the founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, has ignored constant pressure from his fellow Republicans to drop out of the race, warning that anyone who gives him a “bribe” to suspend his campaign would be reported to New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
According to the Democracy Institute, the poll results were weighted for “key demographic and socio-economic variables, including gender, age, education, income, borough residency, party identification, religion, and cell phone-only households.”
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