Yang expands lead in NYC mayor race: poll

Andrew Yang is expanding his lead in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor, according to a new poll. 

The survey, conducted by the left-leaning think tank Data for Progress, shows the former Democratic presidential hopeful running 13 points ahead of his closest rival, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, at 26 percent to 13 percent respectively.

Only two other candidates, city comptroller Scott Stringer and attorney Maya Wiley, notched double-digit support in the survey, garnering 11 percent and 10 percent support respectively. 

The poll also shows Yang benefiting from New York City’s new ranked-choice voting system. Thirty-one percent of respondents said that Yang would be their second choice on the ballot, while Adams and Stringer picked up 13 percent each. Eleven percent of voters chose Wiley as their No. 2 pick. 

When it comes to voters’ third choice, Adams holds a slight advantage over Yang, with 15 percent of primary voters choosing the Brooklyn Borough president and 14 percent picking Yang.

The Data for Progress poll surveyed 1,007 likely Democratic primary voters in New York from March 21 to April 5, and has a margin of sampling error of 3 percentage points. 

With just about two months to go before the June 22 primary election, the poll suggests that Yang has managed to broaden his support among New York City voters. A survey released last month by the government relations firm Fontas Advisors showed Yang leading Adams 16 percent to 10 percent.

“We’re not saying this race is on cruise control. We’re not saying the race is anywhere near over,” Chris Coffey, Yang’s co-campaign manager, told reporters on a conference call on Friday. “What we are saying is that we would rather be where Andrew is than where anyone else is.”

The Data for Progress poll also modeled Yang’s chances in one-on-one match-ups against several of his Democratic opponents. In each scenario, Yang cleared the 50-percent mark.

Yang rose to political prominence in late 2019 and early 2020 as he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination on a proposal to implement a universal basic income, in which every adult American would receive $1,000 per month, a payment he dubbed the “Freedom Dividend.”

While that campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, he parlayed his newfound political profile into a bid to replace outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), announcing his campaign in January.

Yang’s campaign has focused primarily on promoting New York City’s pending recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. His campaign said on Friday that it will begin going up on the airwaves with “positive ads” touting a “better days ahead” message for the city.