NEW YORK CITY — Three candidates for mayor are virtually tied for the lead in the Democratic primary, a new poll shows.
Former city Comptroller Bill Thompson recently surged to join City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Rep. Anthony Weiner as the top contenders in the race for City Hall, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday evening.
The survey, with a 3-point margin of error, shows that Quinn has the support of 19 percent of the Democratic voters, Weiner has 17 percent and Thompson has gained ground with 16 percent.
"William Thompson's spurt — no doubt spurred in part by his endorsement last week by the United Federation of Teachers — is the big news in this new poll. The other news is Council Speaker Christine Quinn's slide, and that's more puzzling," pollster Maurice Carroll said in a statement. "A few polls ago, she was edging close to the magic 40 percent. Now, she's down with the guys."
The 1,238 New York City voters surveyed from June 19 to 25, including 830 Democrats, said they would choose one of the three Democratic candidates over Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who is not a candidate, Republican hopeful Joseph Lhota and former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion.
Two other Democrats, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, posted 10 and 7 percent, respectively, the poll found.
The poll comes just a day after another study, by the Wall Street Journal and NBC New York, found Weiner leading the pack, with 25 percent of the vote compared to Quinn's 20 percent.
