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A new Siena College poll that came out recently suggests that Zohran Mamdani has a cushy 19-point lead over Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race. The Queens State Assemblyman has a 44-25 edge over the disgraced former Governor, with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa at 12% and incumbent Eric Adams mustering a measly 7%. Even though the heavy lifting of their campaigns won’t start for at least three more weeks, the gap has people asking is the race over or just beginning? Mamdani, meanwhile, has adopted the strategy of standing up to Donald Trump rather than his opponents. Many pundits feel Mamdani’s approach will turn off voters in the general election, which means the gap should shrink, but will it shrink enough to make it a tight race? Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf has seen numerous races in his distinguished career; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to dissect those numbers- spoiler alert; the race is far from over.
“This is [nearly] September; anything can happen,” Sheinkopf reminded host Larry Mendte. “President Carter was up on the weekend when Ronald Reagan took him out, and then there were a bunch of other guys who were up on that weekend before the election, and they lost. Anything can happen, and the issue in New York is very different. There is always something insane that happens in the New York City contested mayoral [race] right before the election date that changes the dynamic. That can happen here, but if you had to bet today, bet Mamdani will be the mayor and bet that we’re going to have an interesting time.”
Meanwhile, Sheinkopf feels Mamdani is attacking Trump instead of Cuomo as a viable campaign strategy because he can’t talk about his platform: “Whoever Trump endorses will lose the election. Trump’s numbers in New York City are disastrous, and Mamdani understands that, which is why he went on the anti-Trump tour. He’s got nothing else to talk about because his positions overall are indefensible and not achievable, in most cases.”
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