Andrew Cuomo is the first choice of roughly four in ten likely voters in the upcoming ranked-choice Democratic primary and remains the clear frontrunner in the race, according to a new Marist Poll released overnight Wednesday.
The poll suggested that many Cuomo backers don't seem to like anyone else.
"Their most popular second choice was nobody," pollster Lee Miringoff said.
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Miringoff explained that the largest subset of Cuomo voters in the poll ranked the former governor first — and then left the rest of their ballots blank. Voters can rank up to five candidates on their ballots.
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SIGN UP In one sample that included undecided voters leaning toward a candidate, 37% of the Democrats ranked Cuomo number one.
In a second sample that removed undecided voters from the mix and then simulated six rounds of ranked choice voting, Cuomo started as the top choice for 44%, then inched toward the finish line — eventually winning with 53% in Round 5.
In that same ranked exercise, Queens Assemblyman and socialist Zohran Mamdani finished second with 29%.
Comptroller Brad Lander finished third with 18%. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams landed in fourth place, eliminated after Round 4 with 13%.
Former Comptroller Scott Stringer finished in fifth place with 6% of the vote. But while the largest share of Cuomo backers ranked only Cuomo, Stringer was the next-most common second choice for Cuomo backers, followed by Adrienne Adams.
State Senator Zellnor Myrie was eliminated after round two with 4%. Other candidates — Jessica Ramos, Whitney Tilson and Michael Blake — were eliminated in the first round with 2% or less.
It was not immediately clear what percentage of voters polled may have followed the anti-Cuomo strategy known as "DREAM," which stands for "Don't Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor."
