A new Marist poll finds that Anthony Weiner had made gains in the potential Democratic primary matchup in the New York City mayoral race, since his official campaign launched last week. According to the poll, Weiner is only trailing front-runner Christine Quinn by 5 points, 24-19 percent. After Weiner, Bill de Blasio polls at 12 percent.
From the poll:
In April, amid speculation Weiner would enter the race for mayor, he garnered the support of 15% of registered Democrats. Quinn at that time received 26%, a lead of eleven points. 12%, last month, indicated they would vote for John Liu. Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson each received 11%. Sal Albanese had 2%, and 1% mentioned another candidate. 22% were undecided.
As Salon's Blake Zeff wrote Tuesday, though a Weiner win is improbable, he does have a few things going for him -- even aside from his $5 million in campaign cash:
Most critically, Weiner begins this race possessing a prerequisite for an upset: the field of candidates he faces has failed to catch the attention of voters. The current frontrunner, City Council speaker Christine Quinn, leads early polls but none show her approaching the 40 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff, and she inspires intense opposition among many New York voters. Add to that the fact that other leading candidates like Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson have failed to consolidate their bases of support, and you’ve got an unsettled race — just the kind of backdrop essential for Weiner to have a prayer of winning.
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