Bloomberg Widens Lead Over Thompson: Poll

A second debate is set for tomorrow

With just eight days to go until the vote,  Michael Bloomberg is leading rival William Thompson by 18 points, according to poll released Monday.

"It's been shaping up all along, and now the new numbers say it looks like a Bloomberg blow-out," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,088 New York City voters between October 23 to 25 and found Mayor Bloomberg leading City Comptroller Thompson by 53 percent to 35 percent with 10 percent still undecided.

Bloomberg is running for a third term as an independent, while Thompson is running as the Democratic Party candidate. The latest campaign records show Bloomberg, as of Friday, had spent $85 million on his campaign for a third term, and he's on pace to shell out between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3.

Bloomberg has already spent more of his own money in pursuit of public office than any other individual in U.S. history, The New York Times reported.

For his part, Thompson has reportedly had trouble raising money, so-far spending about $6 million of the $8 million he has collected in donations and matching fund.  A Thompson campaign spokeswoman on Friday told the Times the mayor's spending was "obscene."

Last week, a Marist poll indicated Bloomberg holds a 16 point advantage over Thompson.  When that poll was released, the Thompson campaign pointed out that the sample size was relatively small and the margin of error relatively large.

In the Quinnipiac survey, the poll finds that the mayor remains popular, with 63 percent saying that they have a favorable opinion of him, and 29 percent saying that they do not. 

Thompson, meanwhile, is hampered by the fact that a third of voters still say they do not know enough about him or his platform. Of those who do, 39 percent have a favorable opinion, and 23 percent do not.

Thompson might be down, but he's not out.  The two candidates will face off again tomorrow night in the second of two mayoral debates.

Thompson's campaign has also touted a recent appearance with President Barack Obama, saying it was pleased by the presidents endorsement of Thompson's election bid.

Thompson has also stepped up television ads in which Bloomberg praised him in 2007 as one of the best comptroller that city has ever had.
 
Bloomberg said he was just being "polite" when issuing the compliment.
 

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