Barely a week in the race, Anthony Weiner has managed to comfortably position himself a close second to Christine Quinn. In the first Marist poll since his video announcement, Weiner places second with the support of 19% of the city’s registered Democrats. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn still leads but with only 24 percent, the lowest she has had in this race.

Weiner’s gains over Quinn has placed her just above the margin of error – 4.5%

“The Democratic primary for mayor remains wide open,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “It is likely to come down to who can punch their ticket for the runoff.”

Among those who support Christine Quinn, 30% are strongly behind her, and 42% somewhat support her. 24% say they might vote differently, and 4% are undecided. Anthony Weiner’s supporters are a bit stronger in their backing. 43% strongly support him while 38% are somewhat supportive. Only 17% might vote differently.

“He may, in fact, be taking all the oxygen out of the room and depriving the second-tier candidates — de Blasio, Thompson, Liu, etc. — of getting a lot of attention they so desperately want,” Miringoff told WCBS 880.

The Marist poll found Bill de Blasio with 12 percent support, Bill Thompson with 11 percent support and John Liu with 8 percent. The remaining candidates are at 1% or lower.

Among Jewish voters, Mr. Weiner leads the pack with 23 percent support. Ms. Quinn is in second place with 17 percent support, down from 21% in Marist’s April poll and 39% in March.

Bill de Blasio garnered 16% of support among Jewish voters. However, in a hypothetical one-on-one match up against Ms. Quinn, Mr. de Blasio is the only candidate that would beat Quinn among Jewish voters – 39 to 36 percent.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)