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Bill de Blasio Surges Ahead of Quinn in Latest Mayoral Poll

 Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio surged ahead of his opponents in the latest mayoral poll.
Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio surged ahead of his opponents in the latest mayoral poll.
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DNAinfo/Colby Hamilton

NEW YORK CITY — Public Advocate Bill de Blasio surged ahead of his Democratic opponents, including Christine Quinn, taking the lead for the first time in the race, according to a mayoral poll released Tuesday.

De Blasio earned the support of 30 percent of those surveyed, bumping the City Council speaker to second place with 24 percent, while former comptroller Bill Thompson remained in third with 22 percent, according to the poll from Quinnipiac University.

De Blasio’s lead also extended into a likely Democratic runoff, when the poll found he'd beat Quinn 54 to 38 percent, the poll found.

“A few weeks ago, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio looked like an also-ran. Today, he’s the leader of the pack,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement.

Former congressman Anthony Weiner continued to fall further from his one-time frontrunner status, plummeting to fourth with 10 percent of those surveyed supporting him. Comptroller John Liu came in at 6 percent.

The latest poll also showed a clear division along racial lines. De Blasio, who is white, led among white voters with 39 percent, while Thompson, who is black, led among black voters, also with 39 percent.

"Bill de Blasio's message has always been clear. He is the only Democrat who will break from the Bloomberg years by raising taxes on the wealthy to invest in universal pre-K and after-school programs, ending racial profiling, and fighting to save community hospitals," Blasio's campaign manager, Bill Hyers, said in a statement, adding that his stance remained the same regardless of his standing in the polls.

According to Carroll, Weiner’s struggles with voters appeared to be dragging him down.

“Nobody thinks former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner will pack it in, but 55 percent of all voters wish he’d go away and 51 percent of Democrats say they’d never vote for him,” Carroll said.

But in a possible warning sign, a third of likely Democratic primary voters surveyed said they would likely change their mind about who they were voting for between now and primary day. De Blasio’s supporters were less committed to him, at 38 percent, compared to Quinn’s supporters — 42 percent — or Thompson’s supporters — 54 percent.

The poll of 579 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted from Aug. 7 to 12 over landlines and cellphones, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.