The 2013 race to succeed three-term New York City Mayor Bloomberg has a frontrunner.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) has a 20 point lead over her nearest Democratic opponent, according to the latest NY1-Marist poll. 32 percent of those polled said they favored Quinn, while only 12 percent said they'd vote for Bill Thomspon. Polling behind Thompson for the Democratic nomination are Public Advocate Bill de Blasio at ten percent, Comptroller John Liu at nine percent, Manhattan Borough President (and ScarJo endorsee) Scott Stringer at 7 percent, and publisher Tom Allon at one percent.
29 percent of those polled were undecided.
Republicans, meanwhile, continue the drumbeat for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to run for mayor. The popular commissioner has continually denied wanting to run for the office. "I can only say that I have not made any plans to run, and I'm going to continue that position," he said Monday.
Even if Kelly were persuaded, however, another poll published in The New York Daily News shows the commish trailing both Quinn and Thompson:
Kelly, according to the poll, trails City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) by a 49%-to-36% margin, with 15% not sure.
Kelly also lags behind ex-city Controller and mayoral candidate William Thompson by a significantly closer 43%-to-40% margin, with 17% unsure.
“For a person who hasn’t done any campaigning — he’s just been doing his job as commissioner — that is really an extraordinarily positive poll for him,” said state GOP Chairman Ed Cox told The News..