Jewish New Yorkers support Zohran Mamdani more than any candidate for mayor, but they strongly disagree about how he would shape their future, says a new poll from a pro-Israel nonprofit.
Mamdani is pulling the largest share of Jewish voters at 37%, with the rest dispersed between his competitors, Mayor Eric Adams (25%), former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (21%) and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa (14%), according to the poll commissioned by New York Solidarity Network and conducted by GQR.
The results largely align with a poll by Zenith Research and Public Progress Solutions earlier this week, which had Cuomo ahead of Adams, but still showed Mamdani holding a significant lead without a majority of Jewish support. Public Progress Solutions is run by an ally of Mamdani, while New York Solidarity Network campaigned against him in the primary.
The new survey explored Jewish voters’ sentiments about antisemitism, Israel and their concerns as New Yorkers. Among the 800 people surveyed, 74% said they worried about antisemitism. But they differed on where that threat came from — about half said they believed Mamdani was antisemitic, while nearly all of his Jewish supporters disagreed.
They also diverged on the overlap between pro-Palestinian slogans and antisemitism: Three in five Jewish voters said the phrases “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were antisemitic. (Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel, has come under fire for declining to condemn the former slogan.)
But they said they were basing their votes primarily on local matters: 76% said they based their vote on issues like affordability and crime, with only 17% centering their future mayor’s views on Israel. The Jews who supported Mamdani were most motivated by his promises to tax the wealthy, build affordable housing and focus on mental health officers rather than police to prevent crime.
Mamdani’s stance drove 17% of Jewish voters, the poll found.
In comparison, 62% of all Mamdani voters said they were driven by his pro-Palestinian advocacy, according to another recent poll by the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project.
Many Jews surveyed by New York Solidarity Group said they believed their future is in danger — 58% believe the city will be less safe for Jews under Mamdani’s leadership, including a large contingent of older voters.
Sara Forman, the group’s executive director, told Politico she wanted Mamdani to understand the concerns weighing on Jewish New Yorkers. Her message for him signaled that even staunchly pro-Israel Jewish leaders may be resigning themselves to the idea that Mamdani will prevail in November, leaving them no choice but to collaborate with him.
“It’s a very good overview in terms of a roadmap for how, if you want to represent everyone, how you can take the first step to do that,” said Forman.
