NEW YORK CITY — Hillary Clinton would cruise to victory if she ran against Bill de Blasio in the upcoming mayoral race, a new poll shows.
If Clinton were to run as an independent — following recent rumors that the failed presidential nominee hadn't ruled out a possible run for mayor — she would trounce de Blasio by a margin of 49 to 30 percent, according to a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University.
Democrats prefer Clinton by a whopping 61 percent to de Blasio's 29 percent, while independent voters chose her by a margin of 45 to 31 percent, the poll says.
The findings come as the mayor's job-approval rating sits at just 45 percent, compared to 46 percent of voters who disapprove of the job he's doing, the poll adds. Forty-nine percent of voters do not believe de Blasio deserves reelection, compared to 42 percent who do.
“New Yorkers aren’t in love with Mayor Bill de Blasio, but they seem to like him better than other possible choices — except Hillary Clinton, who probably is an impossible choice,” Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Tim Malloy said.
Still, de Blasio has a good chance of besting any of the other potential challengers in the Democratic primary, the poll says.
In a matchup with other rumored candidates, the mayor would beat out former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn 35 to 11 percent, while Comptroller Scott Stringer clocked in with 9 percent, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries with 8 percent, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. with 5 percent and state Sen. Tony Avella with 1 percent.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose battles with de Blasio have played out publicly during the mayor's administration, had the highest job-approval rating of all — with 68 percent of voters happy with his work as governor, compared to 26 percent who disapproved.
