New York – New Quinnipiac Poll: Thompson Tops Quinn, Weiner In NYC Dem Primary Runoff

New York – New York City Democratic likely voters give former City Comptroller and 2009 mayoral challenger William Thompson leads over City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner in the mayoral primary runoff – if Thompson can make it to the runoff – according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This is the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University’s first survey of likely Democratic primary voters in this election cycle and can not be compared to earlier surveys of registered voters.

If Weiner drops out of the race, Quinn gets 30 percent to Thompson’s 26 percent, with 21 percent for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and 10 percent for Comptroller John Liu.

If Weiner stays in, he has 26 percent in the first round of the Democratic primary, with 22 percent for Quinn and 20 percent for Thompson. de Blasio is at 15 percent with 7 percent for Liu, 1 percent for former Council member Sal Albanese and 8 percent undecided.

In a Democratic primary runoff, however, Thompson tops Weiner 52 – 41 percent and leads Quinn 51 – 42 percent. A Weiner-Quinn runoff is tied with 46 percent for Quinn and 44 percent for Weiner.

Thompson outscores Quinn on “moral character” and empathy with voters and ties her on having the experience to be mayor. Thompson tops Weiner 4-1 on “moral character.”

“Let’s focus on the most important race, the Democratic primary runoff. After the new flood of stories about Congressman Anthony Weiner, we must look at the likelihood of a runoff between Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Comptroller William Thompson,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“As of today, these numbers show Thompson ahead in that race,” Carroll added.

A total of 91 percent of Thompson first-round voters are “very enthusiastic” or “somewhat enthusiastic” about their candidate, compared to 79 percent for Quinn.

In a Quinn-Thompson runoff, he leads 59 – 36 percent among men while women are tied 46 – 46 percent. Thompson leads 68 – 29 percent among black voters and gets 49 percent of white voters to Quinn’s 43 percent.

In a very small sample of likely Republican primary voters, former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair Joseph Lhota gets 49 percent, with 35 percent for businessman John Catsimatidis and 7 percent for George McDonald.

A total of 86 percent of likely Democratic primary voters say a candidate’s understanding of their problems is “extremely important” or “very important.” A total of 80 percent cite a candidate’s experience as extremely or very important, while 57 percent say personal moral character is extremely or very important.

Having a strong moral character describes Thompson “a great deal” or “a good amount,” a total of 63 percent of Democrats say; a total of 59 percent say the right experience describes him a great deal or a good amount and 53 percent say understanding their needs describes him a great deal or a good amount.

Quinn scores 53 percent for moral character, 59 percent for experience and 43 percent for understanding. Scores for Weiner are 17 percent for moral character, 57 percent for experience and 51 percent for understanding.

“Empathy, or understanding ‘people like you,’ is more important than experience or moral character, voters say. Thompson is tops in that trait. Weiner is way behind on moral character,” Carroll said.

From July 18 – 23, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,340 New York City registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points. The survey includes 507 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points and 96 Republican likely primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 10 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and the nation as a public service and for research.

For more information, visit http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling, or call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter.

1. (If Registered Democrat) If the Democratic primary for Mayor were being held today, and the candidates were John Liu, Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson, Bill de Blasio, Anthony Weiner and Sal Albanese, for whom would you vote? (If undecided) As of today, do you lean more toward Liu, Quinn, Thompson, de Blasio, Weiner or Albanese? (Table includes leaners)