Nadler holds 9-point lead over Maloney in New York primary: poll

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) leads Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) by 9 percentage points in New York’s 12th Congressional District primary, according to an Emerson College Polling-PIX11-The Hill survey released Friday.

The survey found that 40 percent of very likely Democratic primary voters planned on voting for Nadler in the primary, which is slated for Aug. 23, compared to 31 percent who said the same for Maloney.

Attorney Suraj Patel received 11 percent of support, while 17 percent of respondents said they were undecided.

When the poll factored in undecided respondents who were asked to say which candidate they were leaning toward, that shifted Nadler’s support among primary voters to 47 percent and shifted support for Maloney to 35 percent. It also shifted support for Patel, who reached 17 percent support.

While Maloney’s support has stayed the same since respondents were last polled in May, Nadler has gained the most ground, seeing his support increase 19 percentage points. Patel also saw a jump of 7 percentage points since the last poll. 

“Male voters are overwhelmingly breaking in support of Nadler for Congress over Maloney; 46% to 22% compared to May when Maloney led this group 26% to 22%. On the other hand, female voters are statistically even; 38% support Maloney and 36% support Nadler which is down from May when Maloney led 35% to 20% among women,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.

Nadler and Maloney are going head-to-head in the state’s 12th Congressional District in an awkward member-on-member primary following New York’s redistricting. 

The primary is especially notable given that the two Democrats occupy top leadership positions. Nadler is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, while Maloney is the chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee. 

The pair both made headlines earlier this week after they declined to say whether they thought President Biden should run for reelection in 2024, though both later said they would support him if he decided to. 

The White House said that Biden plans to make a bid in 2024. 

The Emerson College Polling-PIX11-The Hill survey was conducted between Aug. 1 and Aug. 2 with 1,000 very likely Democratic primary voters surveyed. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.