New Poll Confirms Brad Lander is Strongest Challenger to Andrew Cuomo
Poll by independent Honan Strategy Group finds Lander leads Cuomo contenders in both initial vote & ranked choice voting
Findings echo Lander’s internal poll by renowned Global Strategy Group, showing Lander as strongest Cuomo rival by far
NEW YORK — A new poll released today by the Honan Strategy Group, unaffiliated with any campaign, shows that Brad Lander leads the pack of mayoral candidates to take on disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the race to City Hall. The survey finds that only Cuomo and Lander have double digit voting percentages — and that Lander is the runner up in both original vote tallies and ranked choice voting — which echoes the findings of a poll commissioned by the renowned Global Strategy Group for Lander’s campaign that found him by far the strongest opponent to Cuomo.
“While Andrew Cuomo leads in name recognition at this early phase, Brad Lander has the most grassroots support, widest political coalition, strongest momentum and clearest path to beat the disgraced former governor,” said Campaign Manager Alison Hirsh. “The question before New Yorkers now is: do you want another four years of a corrupt chaos agent, only in this race for his personal gain — or someone with strong, experienced leadership, outstanding public integrity, and real solutions to tackle our toughest problems?”
In the initial tally, Cuomo leads the field with 35 percent – a pathetic number for a candidate with universal name ID against a field of lesser-known candidates – followed by Lander at 10 percent. Under ranked-choice voting, Cuomo would take the primary in the sixth round with Lander again in second – and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams eliminated in the fifth round. Lander’s results are particularly notable given that 43 percent of respondents said they were unfamiliar with him, suggesting he still has significant room to grow his support even more. The poll interviewed 769 Democratic primary voters from January 23-26 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.53%.
The poll comes on the heels of tremendous momentum for Lander’s campaign, which announced the broadest coalition of support last month including NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, New York State Finance Chair Liz Krueger, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymember Robert Carroll, and Councilmember Tiffany Cabán. He also leads the field in fundraising enabling him to have all the resources needed to communicate his vision and record to New Yorkers.
The Honan Strategy Group poll echoes the finding of Lander’s own internal poll, conducted by the nationally renowned Global Strategy Group, in December. In that poll, when voters were read information about each of the candidates, to simulate a campaign, Lander was the even clearer alternative to Cuomo. Those findings are available upon request.
###