Democrats in NYC have expressed, throughout the current mayoral race, their eagerness of retaining control of the city after 20 years of Republican control. However, there is one guy that could destroy the dream for the Democratic hopefuls: Ray Kelly.
A new test poll of 600 likely voters in New York City shows the entrance of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly into the campaign to be the city’s next mayor would dramatically shake up the race and catapult him to instant frontrunner status in both the Republican primary and general elections.
As an undeclared candidate, Kelly already edges two leading Democratic candidates tested in head-to-head match-ups in this survey, conducted by ‘the polling company, inc/Woman Trend’. As the Republican nominee in the general election, Kelly would likely beat both Christine Quinn (41% to 38%) and Bill Thompson (40% to 39%).
Kelly also has a decisive lead among Independent voters. He leads Ms. Quinn by 9 points (40-31) and Mr. Thompson by a whopping 25 points (51-26).
Against Quinn, Kelly leads in four of the five boroughs and only trails among women by three points. Against Thompson, Kelly leads in three of the five boroughs and has an edge among both men and women, eliminating the gender gap.
Voters were asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the candidates: more voters said they were favorable towards Kelly than anyone else tested (49% favorable to 19% unfavorable), including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other announced candidates. His support is wide and deep, with a positive image among every age group, ethnicity, income level, and all five boroughs, and even among liberals and Democrats.
To the dismay of John Catsimatidis and Joe Lhota, Ray Kelly is also in great position to win the Republican nomination, should he enter the race. On the Republican primary ballot, Kelly leads with over 50% of the vote and is ahead of all other candidates tested. Similarly, 54% of Republican primary voters say that Kelly has the best chance to win in November.
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
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One Response
1. Republican primaries don’t often work out. Turner might have done reasonably well since he was well known, but instead a nobody (Wendy Long) ran and managed to lose by a 3-1 margin.
2. The Democrats might get serious. Weiner’s “wife” might manage to convince him to keep his pants on in public. The Republicans can’t count on New York’s Democrats self-destructing.