Foreign-Born Voters Likely To Hand Socialist Zohran Mamdani Key To New York City, Poll Shows

Socialist Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani holds a firm lead among foreign-born New York City voters, while Independent mayoral candidate and former Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo leads among American-born voters, according to a new poll.

With less than two weeks until the largest U.S. city decides on its next mayor, polls have consistently shown Mamdani in position to win his three-way race against Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. According to a recent survey conducted by Patriot Polling of registered voters, Mamdani holds 62% support among foreign-born voters, with Cuomo at 24% and Sliwa at 12%.

In contrast, among American-born city voters, Cuomo leads with 40% support, Mamdani has 31% and Sliwa holds 25%. Overall, the data shows 43% of registered voters back Mamdani, 32% support Cuomo and 19% support Sliwa.

If elected in November, Mamdani said he plans to implement policies such as raising the minimum wage to $30, launching government-run grocery stores and taxing “richer and whiter” neighborhoods. While Republicans have raised concerns over the proposals, reports have circulated that some business owners in the city are considering whether to flee if Mamdani takes office.

Since securing his nomination, Mamdani has received criticism from both Democrats and Republicans regarding his potential plans for the city, along with his previous anti-police statements and previous hesitancy to denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada” — widely seen as a call to antisemitic violence — which he has since flip-flopped on.

Notably, Patriot Polling data shows Mamdani “suffers a serious deficit” with Catholic and Jewish voters despite his overall lead. The socialist Democratic nominee performs strongest among “Other” religions, including Muslims, Hindus and atheists.

Mamdani also performs better among women, according to the survey, holding 49% of their support compared to 36% from men. In contrast, Cuomo holds 31% support among men and 34% among women, while Sliwa has 27% male support and just 15% among women.

Patriot Polling’s survey polled a sample of 715 registered voters on Oct. 18 and 19 using interactive voice response (IVR) phone calls. The company selected its sample of landlines via Random Digit Dialing (RDD). The poll reported a margin of error due to sampling at plus or minus 3 percentage points.