Socialist Zohran Mamdani leads Andrew Cuomo in primary for NYC mayor following debate: Public Policy Polling

A young socialist candidate is now polling ahead of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race. Zohran Mamdani is pulling ahead of Cuomo in the few weeks ahead of the Democratic primary for the election. 

According to a survey from Public Policy Polling done for Democrat Justin Brannan’s city comptroller campaign, Cuomo is running behind Mamdani 31 to 35 percent. The margin of error in the poll is 4.1 percent.  

Since the launch of his campaign in March, Cuomo has been the frontrunner for the Democratic candidate in his bid to run against incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in the race.  

The poll was from 573 likely Democratic voters and was conducted between June 6 and 7 in the days after the first debate between the nine Democratic candidates. After the debate, "Squad" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Mamdani, which likely gave him more visibility. 

Mamdani has advocated for a number of far-left policies, including freezing rent "for all stabilized tenants," launching "free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years," as well as "city-owned grocery stores" that will focus on "keeping prices low [and] not making a profit." On his platform, he has also advocated for a $30 minimum wage by the year 2030. 

To solve the price of housing, his policy proposal includes the "production of permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes – constructing 200,000 new units over the next 10 years."

All of the programs and free services, Mamdani says, will be paid for by raising taxes on corporations as well as implementing a "a flat 2% tax" on those who are earning over $1 million a year.