Cracks in the Socialist Armor: New Yorkers Begin to Sour on Mamdani, Poll Finds

By: Fern Sidman

For months, Zohran Mamdani has loomed over New York City’s mayoral race as an insurgent candidate of extraordinary momentum — a Democratic Socialist who stunned the political establishment by toppling Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and positioning himself as the clear frontrunner heading into November’s general election. But a new poll suggests that the honeymoon period may be waning, as skepticism among voters begins to harden into disapproval, even as Mamdani continues to hold a commanding lead in the crowded field.

According to a survey conducted by Gotham Polling & Analytics for AARP and obtained by The New York Post, 1,400 likely voters revealed sharply divided views of the Queens assemblyman. Nearly half of respondents — 47 percent — expressed an unfavorable opinion of Mamdani, while the exact same share reported favorable impressions. This razor-thin balance contrasts sharply with earlier polls, where Mamdani’s negatives hovered in the 30-to-low-40 percent range, indicating a gradual souring of sentiment as the campaign has matured.

Despite this erosion in popularity, Mamdani remains comfortably in front. The poll, conducted on August 11, showed him capturing nearly 42 percent of the vote — nearly double that of his nearest rival, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who garnered 23 percent. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the longtime Guardian Angels leader, trailed with 16 percent, while Mayor Eric Adams, running for re-election as an independent after forgoing the Democratic primary, mustered a mere 9 percent.

Mamdani’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he has pitched himself as the antidote to what he calls the “corrupt, corporatist, and complicit” politics of New York City. His platform includes radical proposals: raising taxes on businesses and the wealthy, creating a city-run grocery system, and dismantling police units he views as militarized.

As The New York Post has repeatedly highlighted, Mamdani’s unapologetic embrace of far-left politics has electrified younger, progressive voters, while simultaneously alienating moderates and business interests who see his agenda as a direct threat to the city’s economic stability. That dichotomy is now playing out in public opinion data, with enthusiasm among his base offset by growing unease among independents and older voters.

The Post’s coverage has emphasized the stakes: Mamdani’s movement is not simply a mayoral campaign but a referendum on the role of socialism in the nation’s largest city.

If Mamdani’s negatives are inching upward, the poll also shows that Andrew Cuomo, once the most dominant Democrat in New York politics, remains unable to capitalize. Having lost decisively to Mamdani in the June primary, Cuomo is now pursuing an independent run in the general election. Yet, as The New York Post report observed, his campaign has failed to generate momentum.

At 23 percent, Cuomo remains a distant second, and even in hypothetical one-on-one matchups modeled by Gotham Polling & Analytics, Mamdani maintains double-digit leads. “Cuomo has the best path of the challengers,” explained Stephen Graves, president of Gotham Polling, in comments reported by the Post. “But even in a hypothetical one-on-one in an election that often favors lower-turnout, older electorates, he still trails by double digits. A disciplined persuasion campaign could still make this a race.”

For now, however, Cuomo’s second act has the air of a stalled revival. As the Post report noted, the former governor, who resigned in 2021 under the cloud of multiple scandals, has been unable to rebrand himself as a viable alternative in a city that appears hungry for fresh voices, even if those voices veer toward the radical.

If Cuomo is struggling, Adams is faring worse. The sitting mayor, who declined to participate in the Democratic primary and instead opted to mount an independent re-election bid, is languishing in single digits. With just 9 percent support, according to the Gotham poll, Adams finds himself in political limbo — a once-formidable incumbent now overshadowed by the socialist insurgency of Mamdani and the nostalgia-fueled comeback attempt of Cuomo.

Curtis Sliwa, meanwhile, remains the perennial outsider, unable to break into the top tier of candidates. Though his 16 percent showing reflects a loyal base of support, particularly among conservatives and crime-weary outer-borough voters, the poll suggests that the Republican nominee lacks a credible path to victory in a city that remains overwhelmingly Democratic. As The New York Post report pointed out, Sliwa’s campaign is more a testament to his celebrity as a crime-fighting activist than a serious threat to Mamdani’s dominance.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Mamdani’s candidacy is not his popularity among progressives, but the reluctance of Democratic Party leaders to embrace him. As the Post reported, Governor Kathy Hochul has conspicuously withheld her endorsement, going so far as to publicly criticize Mamdani’s proposals.

Over the weekend, Hochul, who faces her own re-election campaign next year, blasted Mamdani’s plan for a city-run grocery chain. “I’m for free enterprise,” she said, pointedly distancing herself from the socialist nominee. Similarly, she has expressed opposition to his tax hikes on businesses and the wealthy, signaling a broader rift between the Democratic establishment and its insurgent wing.

Other power brokers have also remained silent. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklyn Democrats, have thus far declined to weigh in, underscoring the unease within the party about aligning with a candidate whose views many consider too extreme for mainstream voters.

As The New York Post report observed, Mamdani’s difficulty in consolidating Democratic support could represent a significant vulnerability as the general election approaches.

For all his challenges, Mamdani’s strength lies in the paradox of a split field. As Graves explained to the Post, Mamdani’s base appears to rest on a “hard floor” of around 40 percent support, with a “firm ceiling” below a majority. In a fractured race, that floor may be enough to secure victory, even if a majority of voters harbor doubts about his agenda.

The Gotham poll tested several dropout scenarios — asking voters how they would respond if their preferred candidate exited the race. In each case, Mamdani maintained his lead, capturing more than 42 percent of support. While this indicates he has yet to achieve majority approval, it also highlights the fragmented nature of the opposition, with Cuomo, Sliwa, and Adams dividing the anti-Mamdani vote.

As The New York Post report noted, Mamdani’s ability to sustain his lead in every hypothetical highlights the strategic advantage of his position. Unless one of his opponents consolidates support, Mamdani could coast to City Hall with less than half the electorate behind him.

The implications of Mamdani’s candidacy extend far beyond the numbers. His rise represents the most significant test yet of whether socialist politics, long marginalized in American discourse, can achieve executive power in the country’s financial capital. For critics, his ascent is a harbinger of economic calamity. For supporters, it is a long-overdue correction to decades of entrenched inequality.

The New York Post, which has covered Mamdani extensively, has framed the debate in stark terms: Can a candidate who openly challenges the very underpinnings of free enterprise effectively govern a city built on global finance, real estate, and private enterprise?

With less than three months until Election Day, Mamdani remains the frontrunner, but the political terrain is shifting. His favorability ratings have slipped, his party remains divided, and establishment Democrats are distancing themselves from his most radical proposals. Yet, in a splintered race, those challenges may not matter — at least not enough to deny him victory.

As The New York Post observed in its coverage of the Gotham poll, Mamdani sits atop a fragile coalition: strong enough to dominate a divided field, yet vulnerable to erosion if his opponents can coalesce. For now, he remains the insurgent who toppled a titan and the socialist poised to lead America’s largest city. Whether New Yorkers will ultimately embrace that experiment, or recoil from it in the final weeks of the campaign, remains the central question of the race.