Radical socialist Zohran Mamdani’s lead over former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the race to become the next mayor of New York City has narrowed to just 6.6 points — the tightest margin since July — according to a new AtlasIntel poll released Saturday.
The survey shows Mamdani leading with 40.6% of the vote, while Cuomo, running as an independent, has climbed to 34% just days before Tuesday’s election, The New York Post reported.
“The gap is closing fast — we can feel it on the ground everywhere from the Bronx to Staten Island. At this rate, we win the race. Keep going strong,” Cuomo said.
“Six points in this election is nothing,” he added while campaigning in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
Cuomo credited his late-campaign momentum to what he called a voter awakening about Mamdani’s unrealistic promises, including proposals for free bus service and city-run grocery stores.
“What has happened is, in the primary, Zohran got away with his TikTok band and a smile,” Cuomo said. “He had his slogans — ‘freeze the rent,’ ‘free buses,’ ‘free food’ — and that was enough. But now people have found out what he’s about.”
“There is no free food, there are no free buses, and he can’t raise corporate taxes statewide and dedicate them to New York City. That can’t happen,” Cuomo said.
AtlasIntel CEO Andrei Roman said Cuomo’s comeback underscores deep voter anxiety about Mamdani’s far-left agenda.
“From not being inspirational to being really hated and terrifying people — that’s a major difference,” Roman said. “That’s what’s happening with Mamdani.”
Roman added that Cuomo’s path to victory depends on consolidating moderate Democrats, independents, and disaffected Republican voters.
“I think Cuomo’s chance in this election is to mobilize an anti-Mamdani vote within mostly the moderate Democratic base that supported him in the primary, but also independents and some of Curtis Sliwa’s voters,” Roman said.
The new poll also gave Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa his highest mark since summer, showing him at 24.1%, up from 22% in a HarrisX survey in July.
The results sharply contrast with two earlier polls that showed Mamdani holding a comfortable double-digit lead.
A Fox News poll released Thursday had Mamdani at 47%, Cuomo at 31%, and Sliwa at 15%.
An Emerson College poll the same day showed Mamdani at 50%, Cuomo at 25%, and Sliwa at 21%.
RealClearPolitics’ polling average still gives Mamdani a 14.5-point advantage, with 45% support to Cuomo’s 31% and Sliwa’s 17%.
However, the AtlasIntel numbers suggest the race may be shifting rapidly in its closing days.
In a hypothetical two-man race without Sliwa, the poll found Cuomo would lead Mamdani 50% to 42%.
Political analysts say that the result reflects growing frustration with Mamdani’s anti-police positions and statements critical of Israel — views that have alienated moderate Democrats and Jewish voters in key boroughs.
Mamdani appeared at an event in Harlem on Saturday at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, where he brushed off suggestions of a tightening race.
“I’m not worried at all,” he told reporters. “I continue to be confident, but I never let that confidence become complacency.”
Cuomo, meanwhile, spent Saturday in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where he told supporters there is “no way” Sliwa can win.
“He can only make Zohran Mamdani win,” Cuomo said.
The AtlasIntel poll surveyed registered voters from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 and has a margin of error of three percentage points.
According to the New York City Board of Elections, nearly half a million residents have already voted early, a significant increase over 2021 turnout levels.
With the election just days away, Mamdani’s once-commanding lead has now narrowed into a fight that could go down to the wire.