A new survey of likely New York City voters found that most of them are primed to support “someone else” besides Mayor Adams, who’s facing an increasingly uphill re-election battle as he struggles with concerns about crime, a migrant crisis, and a looming federal corruption investigation.
The survey found that, if the mayoral election were held today, 16 percent of respondents said they would support Mr. Adams while some 65 percent said they would support “someone else.” Another 19 percent were not sure who they would vote for.
The lack of support for Mr. Adams potentially stems from a negative view of his performance as mayor. Just 4 percent of respondents strongly approve of Mr. Adams’s performance.
Another 20 percent somewhat approve, while 27 percent somewhat disapprove and 46 percent strongly disapprove. Mr. Adams’s lowest net approval ratings were among 30- to 39-year-olds, negative 74 points, and among Republicans, negative 72 points.
The poll comes about a year-and-a-half before the next New York City mayoral election and in the middle of a tenure as mayor that has been characterized by political scandals and strange stunts, like when Mr. Adams was baptized at Rikers Island — a jail that has already seen three incarcerated people die there this year.
One of the criminal scandals encircling Mr. Adams’s administration has to do with a straw donor scheme that saw six people close to Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign indicted last year, three of whom have pleaded guilty.
Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign also appears to be the target of a federal criminal investigation. In November, the mayor’s official vehicle was stopped by law enforcement and he was made to surrender his mobile devices. This came just after his top fundraiser had her home raided by the FBI, who, in a coordinated operation, also raided the home of another aide and a Turkish official who’d worked on the mayor’s transition team. Mr. Adams says he has done nothing wrong and is cooperating fully with investigators.
New York magazine recently called New York City’s political milieu “the Eric Adams smash-and-grab … it’s a brazenly transactional era of government here in New York City.” Mr. Adams has faced constant criticism for his late nights out at clubs and restaurants with friends of questionable backgrounds.
Alongside dissatisfaction with Mr. Adams, the survey found an appetite for electoral reform among New York City voters, including changing the years in which elections occur in the city and changes to voter registration rules.
The survey found that 61 percent of respondents support changing the calendar for elections so that the mayoral election happens at the same time as the presidential election. Just 19 percent opposed the measure.
Most New Yorkers also supported making New York change how primaries work. After being presented with definitions of different systems, 33 percent supported nonpartisan primaries, while 25 percent supported open partisan primaries and 21 percent supported closed partisan primaries.
New York state currently holds closed partisan primaries, meaning voters must be registered with their political party in advance of the primary to participate.
The survey also found that New York City’s ranked choice voting system remains popular, with 55 percent of respondents supporting keeping the system and 27 percent opposing the system.
