New York City is overwhelmingly described by its voters as unaffordable, and voters’ desire for a mayor they believe can bring change outpaces their desire for one with experience.
Against that backdrop, Zohran Mamdani leads, and by an especially wide gap among those whose top issue is the cost of living.
In this nationally watched contest, President Trump also looms as a factor, with many voters — Mamdani’s in particular —wanting a mayor who would oppose Donald Trump, rather than work with him.
Unlike their views on the city’s affordability, voters are relatively more mixed in their assessments of crime. Many feel it’s either held the same or decreased in recent years.
For those who do say crime has increased, the contest is more competitive for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and he fares far better than Mamdani among the group that ranks crime as its top issue.
(More think the subway, in general, has gotten worse rather than gotten better.)
But right now, economics outweighs other factors.
In either case, Mayor Eric Adams trails and is well back in the field, as so many New York voters describe things in the city going badly and give him negative job approval ratings.
In terms of approach, the bulk of New York voters want the next mayor to focus on policies that make things easier for both businesses and the middle and working classes to be in the city. To most, that isn’t mutually exclusive.
But they especially want things to be easier for the middle and working classes.
The candidates
Mamdani does well with voters who say they want a candidate who will “fight for people like them” and “bring needed change” — reflecting that overall negative view about affordability and the city’s direction — and with those prioritizing a candidate who is honest and trustworthy.
Cuomo has an edge with voters who say “the right experience” is very important, perhaps reflecting his having served as governor, but that desire for experience is much lower than for bringing change.
And Cuomo still trails Mamdani among those who want someone to “get things done,” though not by as large a gap.
Cuomo is the top second choice among Adams voters. But with Adams’ support in single digits, Mamdani’s current lead in the contest does not narrow much if voters backing Adams were reallocated to their second choices.
The Trump factor
In a contest that has drawn national attention, Mr. Trump is also a factor here for some voters.
By a factor of almost 2 to 1, New York voters would prefer the next mayor to generally oppose Mr. Trump than to work with him.
That accrues to Mamdani’s benefit, as he draws two-thirds of those voters who want someone who would oppose Mr. Trump.
There are differences on this approach among candidates’ backers too.
Mamdani’s current backers overwhelmingly want a candidate who opposes Mr. Trump, but Cuomo’s backers are more mixed between opposing and being neutral toward Mr. Trump.
Six in 10 voters would want the next mayor to oppose having National Guard troops in the city if Mr. Trump decided to send them.
And related to this, if voters felt Mr. Trump were supporting a mayoral candidate, that would be a net negative for that candidate. It would make more voters less likely to pick that candidate than back them.
Approach to crime
Voters divide over the best policy to reduce crime if asked to pick between tougher sentences for criminals or more social programs and community outreach.
Those who favor tougher sentences are voting for Cuomo or Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa, while those favoring more social programs and community outreach overwhelmingly favor Mamdani.
Demographics of who is backing whom
Mamdani leads with younger voters and those with college degrees, drawing outright majorities among these groups. The race is much tighter among older voters and those without college degrees, with Cuomo’s support roughly matching Mamdani’s among those groups.
Newer residents — those who have moved to the city within the last 10 years — and renters are likelier to pick Mamdani than people who’ve lived in New York for longer and who are home owners.
Mamdani’s backing expands to an outright majority among voters who report using social media a lot to follow the race, a disproportionately young group backing him by 36 points over Cuomo.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a representative sample of 1,903 registered voters in New York City interviewed between September 7-13, 2025: 1,338 were recruited from the voter file via SMS messages, with 565 from YouGov’s panel. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, and NYC borough, based on the voter file and U.S. Census data, as well as to 2024 presidential vote and 2025 primary vote among voters whose turnout was validated against the voter file. The margin of error is ±2.7 points for registered voters and ±2.6 points for likely voters.
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