Polling favors Mamdani in race for Mayor as he picks up key teachers union endorsement
The endorsement from the union, which represents more than 200,000 public education professionals, comes as Mamdani cements his status as the frontrunner.
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A Slingshot Strategies poll released Wednesday shows Mamdani with 35% support among likely voters, followed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has yet to commit to actively campaigning, at 25%.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa received 14%, while incumbent Mayor Eric Adams trailed with just 11%.
Mamdani has been a vocal critic of Mayor Adams' education policies, particularly the handling of class size reductions and mayoral control of schools.
'There's too much that I've been proud of in Albany,' Mamdani said Wednesday. 'We passed class size reduction. But we've seen flailing when it comes to New York City.'
Mamdani said he supports reforming the governance of city schools, vaguely proposing a hybrid model that would give more power to community members while retaining some form of centralized oversight. The Adams campaign criticized the proposal as 'irresponsible and unserious.'
Mamdani also faced questions Wednesday about a steady stream of resurfaced social media posts and writings, some of which his opponents have labeled controversial.
'What Eric Adams and others would seek to focus on are any number of issues that have nothing to do with affordability,' Mamdani said. 'We just came through a primary where we faced more than $30 million in attacks aimed at doing exactly that. New Yorkers supported our campaign by a margin of more than 12 points. They saw through it.'
On the campaign trail Wednesday, Sliwa said personal attacks on Mamdani based on his past statements or background are not the best path.
'It's fair game, but it shouldn't be the priority,' Sliwa said. 'You go at him based on his policies. Leave his Muslim religion alone. Leave his culture alone. All you're doing is strengthening him, making him a victim or martyr, and more young people will rally around him.'
Sliwa also ruled out dropping out of the race to unite opposition against Mamdani, instead suggesting that Mayor Adams should consider exiting the race, given his low poll numbers.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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