Poll results show de Blasio’s lead increases
He’s close to 40% needed to avoid runoff
With less than two weeks to go until the Sept. 10 primary, Bill de Blasio’s lead in the Democratic race for mayor is widening, according to the results of the latest poll from Quinnipiac University, which showed that the public advocate and former Park Slope councilman has 36 percent of the vote.
That’s just four points away for the magic number of 40 percent, the number needed for a candidate to be able to avoid having to run in a runoff in early October. Under election law, if no candidate gets 40 percent or above of the vote, the top two finishers face each other in a runoff to determine the winner.
The poll results, released Wednesday afternoon, showed that de Blasio’s main rival, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had been leading in most polls for much of the race until a month ago, when de Blasio started to overtake her, has 21 percent of the vote. Former comptroller Bill Thomson has 20 percent.
“Talk about breaking out of the pack! Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, in fourth place just five weeks ago, is edging up on the magic 40 percent needed to avoid a Democratic primary runoff,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.