Christine Quinn Regains Lead Over Anthony Weiner For NYC Mayor, According To Latest Poll

MANHATTAN -- City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has returned to her status as frontrunner -- at least in the latest poll.

A new New York Times/Siena College poll shows Quinn has opened up a 9-point lead over former Rep. Anthony Weiner among registered Democrats, 27-18 percent. The two have been trading first place status since Weiner entered the race in late May.

"With the support of more than one-quarter of Democrats, Quinn has a significant nine-point lead over Weiner, her closest competitor," said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg in a statement. "With a commanding Manhattan lead and two- to five-point leads in the outer boroughs, Quinn is in a strong position to make the runoff."

Meanwhile the other candidates in the race continue to languish. Former Comptroller Bill Thompson and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio are tied at 11 percent, while Comptroller John Liu earned the support of 7 percent of those polled.

Nearly a quarter of those polled--22 percent--said they don't know yet who they'll support.

New Yorkers also say they're forgiving, which may help explain why Weiner and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer decided to enter this year's elections. When asked if each man deserved another chance despite a history of sexual scandal, a clear majority -- 54 percent for Weiner and 59 percent for Spitzer -- of those surveyed said they do.

On the Republican side, former MTA chief Joe Lhota continued to lead his primary rivals, with 32 percent surveyed saying they support his bid for mayor. Businessman John Catsimatidis continued to hold the second place spot with 21 percent.

Among all those surveyed, jobs/unemployment and education were the issues voters identified as the two biggest in this election.

The survey was conducted between July 9 and 15 among 1,010 registered voters in the city, with the overall margin of error being plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Among the 610 Democrats surveyed, the margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent, and among the 125 Republicans surveyed, the margin of error was 8.8 percent. Both landlines and cell phones were used.