A new poll released by NBC 4 New York, the Wall Street Journal, and Marist College Thursday showed Anthony Weiner’s latest sexting scandal has cost him his lead in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor’s race. Weiner dropped nine points from his first place positioning in last Marist poll, which was released June 26, to 16 percent compared to 25 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and 14 percent for both Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson.
Overall, the gap between Weiner and Quinn has increased 14 percent. While his numbers have slipped, hers have increased since last month’s Marist poll, which had Weiner with 25 percent, Quinn with 20 percent for Quinn, and Thompson with 13 percent.
These numbers are the first public opinion survey to reflect the impact of revelations that Weiner continued to have explicit online exchanges with women after his 2011 resignation from Congress.
Though his standing in the race has slipped, Weiner is not entirely out of contention. However, the poll also showed 43 percent of New York City Democrats want him to drop out of the race. It also showed his unfavorability is at an all-time high since the scandal with a majority of New York City Democrats, 55 percent, indicating they have an unfavorable impression of Weiner. Just 30 percent of Democrats polled view Weiner favorably.
43 percent of New York City Democrats want Anthony Weiner to drop out of the mayor’s race in the wake of his latest sexting scandal while 47 percent of Democrats want him to continue campaigning. Though the poll showed voters are divided over whether or not Weiner should end his mayoral bid, it also showed his unfavorability is at an all-time high since the scandal and he is no longer vying for the lead in the Democratic primary.
Prior to the scandal, Weiner had been leading his rivals in multiple polls. New York City election law dictates that, if no one earns at least 40 percent of the Sept. 10 primary vote, the top two candidates will face off in a run-off Sept. 24.
(Updated 12:44 PM)
