Latest NYC Mayoral Poll Shows De Blasio Leading With 39 Percent
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Democratic runoff appears more likely in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor, according to a new poll released Monday.
The Quinnipiac University poll shows Public Advocate Bill de Blasio leading among likely Democratic mayoral primary voters with 39 percent.
It shows former Comptroller Bill Thompson in second place with 25 percent. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is third, with 18 percent.
Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is in fourth place with 6 percent, followed by Comptroller John Liu with 4 percent.
NYC mayoral poll: De Blasio leads with 39 percent
To avoid an Oct. 1 runoff, a candidate needs more than 40 percent in Tuesday's primary.
A Sept. 3 Quinnipiac poll showed de Blasio with 43 percent, Thompson with 20 percent and Quinn with 18 percent.
The latest poll, which was conducted from Friday through Sunday, found 8 percent of likely voters undecided.
Bill de Blasio, Bill Thompson Out Trying To Get Last-Minute Support
"Those undecideds could obviously put de Blasio over the top or keep him down of the 40 percent that you need to avoid a runoff," poll director Maurice Carroll told WCBS 880's Rich Lamb. "You might wind up with a Battle of the Bills, you just don't know."
The poll surveyed 782 likely Democratic primary voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES' FINAL CAMPAIGN PUSH
Quinn is spending the day before the primaries campaigning in Manhattan and Queens, shaking as many hands in as many neighborhoods as she can in an all out push for turnout.
In her first stop Monday morning, Quinn handed out pamphlets near a subway station on 137th Street and Broadway in Hamilton Heights.
Quinn Campaigns In Manhattan, Queens
Quinn brushed off the polls and said she feels confident.
"I've seen a lot of history in this city and in national and other polls of polls not actually expressing where voters are at the exact moment when they're going into the voting booth," Quinn said. "We saw it at the last mayoral election, we saw it in the presidential election so I feel really good about how we're doing heading into tomorrow."
Quinn Confident Heading Into Primary
Later in the day, Quinn made a stop in Sunnyside, Queens.
Quinn Confident She'll Fare Well In Tuesday's Primary
She said her campaign is now aimed at getting undecideds and others to the polls on Tuesday.
She said she's confident she'll not only make the 2-candidate runoff, but win it in a few weeks.
De Blasio and his wife stopped at P.S. 58 on First Place in Carroll Gardens to greet parents and students, as well as emphasize his education plans and answer his rivals.
"Bill Thompson has only been willing to offer band aids and small ideas and I'm offering a big bold necessary idea," said de Blasio.
The public advocate also continued to respond to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's comments accusing him of using "class warfare" as a campaign tool.
"I think the whole series of comments suggested that he's out of touch with reality," de Blasio said. "I found them unfortunate, I found them troubling. I think the mayor doesn't understand what's happening in this city for him to talk about class warfare and it means he doesn't understand that in fact so many people are struggling."
Bill de Blasio Meets Students, Parents In Carroll Gardens
Thompson kicked off a 24-hour tour in Brooklyn, encouraging people to vote Tuesday.
"If people come out and vote I'm confident I'll do well," Thompson said during a campaign stop in Flatbush.
Although he's second in the latest poll, Thompson told a cheering crowd outside City Hall during another campaign stop that when the votes are in, he will be triumphant, 1010 WINS' Stan Brooks reported.
Bill Thompson Out Trying To Get Last-Minute Support
"Over the next few hours, it's the things that you do that will determine what direction this city goes in," Thompson said. "Let's knock on those doors, let's make those phone calls, let's reach out to people on the street."
Despite coming in fourth place in a number of recent polls, former congressman Anthony Weiner said he's still holding out hope that he'll do well enough to make a runoff when New Yorkers head to the voting booths on Tuesday.
He said he's not in a place to endorse any of his challengers because the voters haven't made their voices heard yet.
"I only know one way to run a campaign; it's based on issues, it's based on not famous people endorsing me, it's telling people we're going to change the direction of the city and that's what I'm focused on today," Weiner told WCBS 880 on Monday afternoon.
Anthony Weiner Discusses Chances In Tuesday's Mayoral Primary
When asked whether the revelations of a sexting scandal brought down his campaign for mayor, Weiner simply responded "yeah."
"I'm an imperfect messenger for the best ideas in this campaign and I've been an underdog ever since I got in. It wasn't exactly like I got in and went right to the top. I got in and had to push past a lot of pushback," Weiner told WCBS 880. "But I have absolute confidence in the idea that the ideas are what people want."
"There's no doubt about it, what people know about my personal life has been a hindrance and I've got no one to blame but myself," said the former congressman.
Weiner did not answer a question about whether he'll seek political office in the future if he loses the mayoral race.
REPUBLICANS LOOK TO CONTINUE WINNING STREAK
Though outnumbered by Democrats in the city 6-to-1, the GOP has won the last five mayoral elections. (Bloomberg was an independent running on the Republican line four years ago.)
Joe Lhota, the former MTA chairman who received acclaim for steering the transit agency through Superstorm Sandy last fall, has led the polls all campaign. A former deputy mayor to Rudolph Giuliani, Lhota has pledged to maintain the city's record low crime rates.
Latest NYC Mayoral Poll Shows De Blasio Leading With 39 Percent
His primary challenger is John Catsimatidis, a billionaire grocery store magnate who has unleashed a series of blistering attack ads on Lhota, including one that mocks the front runner for dismissing Port Authority police officers as "mall cops.'' Catsimatidis has spent more than $4 million of his own money on the race, but that's a far cry from the $102 million Bloomberg spent four years ago.
Polls in the five boroughs are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday. Experts do not believe turnout will be high.
Voters can find their polling place at http://www.elections.ny.gov.
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