Poll: de Blasio vs. hypothetical 2017 field
Last week, a Quinnipiac University poll had some New Yorkers forecasting political doom for Mayor Bill de Blasio. Not only was the mayor’s approval rating shockingly low – 41 percent, with 52 percent saying he does not deserve to be re-elected.
Quinnipiac also polled de Blasio against presumptive opponents in 2017, such as city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Bronx Borough President Ruben Díaz – but as candidates running as independents in a general election, rather than as Democratic primary opponents, which I quibbled with in a blog post last week.
The poll also omitted Public Advocate Letitia James from this slate of potential mayoral challengers, despite rumblings that James is interested in testing the waters and her relatively high approval rating – 40 percent favorable compared to 20 percent unfavorable – for an office that typically flies under the radar as far as voters are concerned. Quinnipiac also did not poll de Blasio against Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, a rising star in city politics who might be considered a favorite if he decides to run in 2017.
So in the interest of gauging (albeit, very unscientifically) de Blasio’s current standing against a wider field of candidates – as primary opponents rather than general election foes – we want our Slant readers to weigh in: Which of these hypothetical Democratic opponents would you vote for in a primary election versus Bill de Blasio? Cast your vote in the poll below, and we’ll share the results next week.