New Yorkers Would Consider Alternatives to de Blasio: Poll

Sixty-four percent of New York City voters are willing to consider other alternatives to Mayor Bill de Blasio if the election were held today, according to a recent survey by City & State Reports, the data affiliate arm of City & State.

Of the alternative candidates listed—which included former mayor Michael Bloomberg, former City Council speaker Christine Quinn, businessman Donald Trump, Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz, and actor Liam Neeson—Bloomberg received the most voter support at 26 percent in a hypothetical head-to-head against Mayor de Blasio, followed by Quinn at 17 percent, and Trump at 10 percent. Twenty-five percent of voters either preferrred none of the listed candidates or said they would vote for de Blasio, while 11 percent said they did not know or refused to answer.

Moskowitz and Neeson, two political players involved in high-profile policy debates, over charter schools and banning horse carriages, respectively, each received consideration from 7 percent of registered voters.

The poll found that receptivity to alternative candidates extends to all key demographic groups, including self-identified liberals, 62 percent of whom said they would consider an alternative. Bloomberg received the most support from conservative voters at 32 percent, as well as moderate voters at 28 percent. Unsurprisingly, given his progressive ideology, 73 percent of conservative voters said they would consider an alternative to Mayor de Blasio.

The poll did not reflect a large racial divide, with 69 percent of white voters saying they would consider an alternative to de Blasio, compared to 62 percent of non-white voters. Of the individual candidates, Trump had the biggest racial disparity, with 19 percent of white voters saying they would consider him, while only 4 percent of non-white voters would.

The findings are based on an analysis of a telephone survey of 602 registered voters in New York State conducted by the Gotham Research Group from April 30 to May 6, 2014. The question about Mayor de Blasio was asked only to the 275 New York City registered voters polled as part of the greater sample size. The margin of error for the 275 NYC respondents was +/- 5.9 percent.