By Solange Reyner | Monday, 03 November 2025 03:20 PM EST
An Atlas poll released Monday suggests Independent Andrew Cuomo would defeat democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race if Republican Curtis Sliwa were not running. In a hypothetical two-way matchup, Cuomo secured 49.7% of the vote compared to Mamdani’s 44.1%. However, with Sliwa in the race, Mamdani led at 43.9%, while Cuomo trailed at 39.4%. Sliwa remained in third place with 15.5%, and 1.2% of voters were undecided or reported they would not vote.
The poll surveyed 2,404 respondents between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, with a margin of error of ±2 percentage points. Mamdani, the current front-runner, has faced criticism from Donald Trump, who labeled him a “communist” and a “100% communist lunatic.” Trump also warned that if Mamdani were elected mayor and sought to limit cooperation with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he would face legal consequences.
Trump did not endorse a candidate in the race but expressed on “60 Minutes” that he viewed Cuomo as the lesser of two evils. “If it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time,” Trump said, adding that funding for New York would be wasted under a “communist” mayor.
Early voting in New York City concluded with record-high turnout, marking the highest participation for a non-presidential election in city history. The New York City Board of Elections reported 735,317 early voting check-ins over nine days, surpassing the 169,879 total from the 2021 mayoral race.
