Q Poll: Quinn Has Edge in NYC Mayor's Race Without Kelly

By Steven Shepard  //  December 15, 2011 | 6:00 a.m.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has a slight edge among Democrats in her bid to become the Big Apple's first female mayor in 2013 -- if NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly does not run -- according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early Thursday.

Asked which candidate New York City voters would like to see as their next mayor, 24 percent say Kelly, while 18 percent choose Quinn, who would also become the city's first openly gay mayor, if elected. Thirteen percent prefer Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and 7 percent choose former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, the Democratic nominee in 2009. Seven percent also favor embattled City Comptroller John Liu, with 6 percent for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and 5 percent for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

Among registered Democrats -- the primary will be restricted only to those registered with the party -- Quinn leads with 21 percent of the vote, followed by Kelly and Markowitz, who are tied with 16 percent each. Thompson earned the support of 10 percent of Democrats.

When those who supported Kelly in the initial ballot are reallocated according to their second choices, Quinn leads with 23 percent of the vote (25 percent of Democrats). Markowitz is second with 16 percent (18 percent of Democrats).

In endorsing Quinn earlier this week, former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch said he had urged Kelly to run, but Kelly told him he would not be pursuing a mayoral bid.

A recent scandal regarding campaign contributions has damaged New York City voters' opinion of Liu, long considered a likely mayoral candidate. Federal investigators have been investigating Liu's campaign fundraising apparatus, leading to a high-profile arrest last month of a prominent Liu fund-raiser. Liu's job-approval rating has crashed from its meteoric highs earlier this year. Now, just 38 percent of Big Apple voters approve of the job he is doing, while 35 percent disapprove. In mid-October, 50 percent approved of Liu's job performance, and only 23 percent disapproved. Forty-six percent of voters say Liu would not make a good mayor, while only a quarter of voters think we would make a good mayor. "Liu has been in the news a lot, in a bad way," said Mickey Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "All those negative stories about his fundraising have zapped his job-approval numbers." The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Dec. 7-12, surveying 1,242 registered voters in New York City. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percent.

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