Early Polls Of NYC Find No Consensus On Whether Weiner Should Resign

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
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Two polls conducted immediately following Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-NY) apologetic press conference — in which he admitted to sending a lewd photo of himself to a Seattle woman as well as a string of past virtual trysts — produced contrasting results about whether New York City residents think the congressman should resign.

In a Marist poll conducted just hours after Weiner’s admission on Monday afternoon, a 51% majority of New Yorkers said the congressman should not resign from office, while 30% said he should. However, a Survey USA poll conducted at the same time found that a 46% plurality of New Yorkers do want Weiner to resign, compared to 41% who said he should remain in office.

Neither pollster phrased their question in way that indicated Weiner had admitted any culpability in the scandal. In his press conference, Weiner acknowledged that he had exhibited “terrible judgement,” but said that he would remain in office.

However, whether Weiner remains in Congress may ultimately not be up to him. Shortly after Weiner’s admission, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called for an investigation into whether he had broken any House rules through his actions. Further, more details of Weiner’s past indiscretions came out throughout the day on Tuesday, most notably the revelation that he had reportedly coached a porn star about how to lie to cover up their relationship.

The Marist poll also found that by more than a 2-1 margin, New York City residents don’t want Weiner to run for mayor of their city in 2013. Weiner has long held ambitions to serve as the city’s chief executive, and he was considered a leading candidate to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg before the scandal broke.

The Survey USA poll also found that Weiner would face an uphill battle to become the city’s mayor. In that poll, 43% said they would definitely not vote for him should he run, while 11% said they would vote for him. An additional 45% said it was too early to tell.

The Marist poll was conducted Monday night among 500 residents of New York City, and has a 5.0% margin of error. The Survey USA poll also sampled 500 residents, and it has a 4.5% margin of error.

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