Adams in lead but Wiley surges following AOC endorsement: poll
Eric Adams holds a 6-point lead in the Democratic primary for mayor, but a surging Maya Wiley has emerged as his chief rival after landing the endorsement of lefty firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
Adams, the Brooklyn Borough President, got support from 23 percent of the 725 likely Democratic voters in the survey conducted by PIX 11/Emerson College on Monday and Tuesday.
The support for Adams — who has made public safety a cornerstone of his campaign — increased 3 percentage points from 20 percent in the prior Pix 11/Emerson College poll, released on May 25.
But Wiley, the former chief counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, leapfrogged into second place with 17 percent of the vote, nearly doubling the nine percent since she registered in the prior PIX 11/Emerson College poll released on May 25.
Her jump comes just days after she was endorsed on Saturday June 5 by Ocasio-Cortez.
“AOC’s endorsement of Maya Wiley was a game changer, as Wiley had not passed 9% in earlier polls, and now finds herself in second place at percent,” the poll makers said.
Wiley also Wednesday secured the endorsement of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang garnered the backing of 15 percent of Democrats — maintaining his third place position from the last poll.
The other big development was the drop in support for former city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. She sank nine points, going from the top of the heap, with 21 percent support, to just 12 percent in this latest poll.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer — whose campaign has been rocked by sexual harassment claims — rounded out the top five with the backing of 9 percent of Democratic voters.
Nonprofit executive Dianne Morales, whose campaign imploded amid staff upheaval, saw her support crater from 7 percent of respondents to 2 percent.
Meanwhile the big spending campaigns of Shaun Dovan and Ray McGuire are also at the back of the pack. Donovan, the former director of city and federal housing agencies, received 4 percent support and retired Citigroup executive McGuire 3 percent.
Another 12 percent of Democrats said they were undecided. Primary day is June 22 and 10 days of early voting begins on Saturday.
Pix 11/Emerson College also conducted a rare survey on the Republican primary for mayor. The results: 33 percent of Republicans favored Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa versus 27 percent for taxi-bodega advocate Fernando Mateo — with a large 40 percent saying they were still undecided. The poll queried 250 Republicans and has a 6.2 percentage point margin of error.
Crime was cited as the top issue by about one-third of all of the 1,162 voters surveyed. Another 12 percent cited police reform as a pressing issue.
Emerson College polling director Spencer Kimball said the explosive crime issue in the city is likely aiding the campaign of Adams, a retired police officer, since he has made it his signature issue.
The poll found that more Democrats by far believe Adams, a retired NYPD captain, was best equipped to address crime.
“This latest PIX11/NewsNation/Emerson College poll finds that Adams is building his base of support, as his initial vote total week to week continues to grow, going from 20% to 23%. Throughout the 4 polls, Adams has demonstrated the most consistent level of support,” Kimball said.
“Driving this support for Adams could be the increased priority voters are saying needs to be placed on crime in New York City.”
The poll queried 725 likely Democratic voters on Monday and Tuesday via cell phone texts, robocalls, and online surveys, after Wiley endorsed secured the backing of Ocasio-Cortez. The poll has a 3.6 percent point margin of error.
AOC’s support of Wiley cuts both ways. In a question about the endorsement, 29 percent of voters said they were now more likely to vote for Wiley due to AOC’s endorsement, while 29 percent said they were less likely to vote for Wiley. Another 42 percent of Democrats said it made no difference.
“While the AOC endorsement helped Wiley increase her support, it appears to have come at the detriment of Garcia and Morales,” polling director Kimball said.
“However, it does not seem to have affected the leader of the race, Adams, who has been able to extend his support with two weeks until the election.”
The poll also asked Democrats to rank up to five candidates in order of preference to reflect the city’s new ranked choice voting system.
After 11 rounds and a process of elimination, the remaining two candidates with the most voters were Adams and Wiley. Adams prevailed over Wiley 58.5 percent to 41.5 percent.
Meanwhile a Univision NY poll found Yang was top among Hispanics, securing 24 percent support compared to 15 percent apiece for Adams and Garcia.
Adams led among non-Hispanics, with 21 percent support compared to 17 percent for Yang and 15 percent for Garcia.
The Univision poll surveyed 501 city residents from May 27 to June 6. Its margin of error is plus or minus 6 percent.
