Many Americans outside New York favor House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander among the state’s prominent politicians, according to a new poll from YouGov.
The trio each had a 1 percentage point net favorable rating.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the mayoral primary, was the least popular politician on the poll’s list, at 35 percent underwater.
In the poll, Jeffries was viewed as either “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” by 31 percent of respondents, while “somewhat unfavorable” and “very unfavorable” views of the Democratic leader came in at 30 percent. Thirty-eight percent said they didn’t “know” Jeffries.
Mamdani, who recently shocked political observers with a win in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, was seen as either “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” by 30 percent of respondents, compared with 29 percent “somewhat unfavorable” or “very unfavorable.” Forty-two percent didn’t “know” who Mamdani was.
Lander, who also ran in the mayoral primary, garnered 13 percent favorable and a similar number of unfavorable responses. Seventy-three percent of people didn’t know Lander.
Some other high-profile New York Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gov. Kathy Hochul, had more respondents in the poll who disliked them, with Ocasio-Cortez 3 points and Hochul 10 points underwater. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had a 22-point gap between those who viewed him favorably and unfavorably.
While New York remains a safe blue state for most statewide races, it is a key battleground in the 2026 race for the House.
Mamdani is the favorite heading into the general election for mayor, with both Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams running as independents, and he has become a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Adams has a minus 21 percent net favorable rating, with only 1 percent of respondents holding a very favorable view of the incumbent mayor.
The YouGov poll took place from July 14 to 16, with 1,107 respondents and 4.1 percentage points as its margin of error.
