It’s official. Anthony Weiner, less than 8 weeks in the race, has managed to establish himself as the frontrunner in the race for mayor of New York City.

Mr. Weiner has the support of 25 percent of Democratic primary voters, an increase of 8 points since June 26, with 22 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, according to a a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Bill Thompson, who jumped to a statistic tie with Weiner and Quinn, in last month’s poll, fell back to a distanced 3rd place with 11 percent – a 5 point drop since June 26. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio remained at a solid 10 percent with 7 percent for Comptroller John Liu and 1 percent for former City Council member Sal Albanese. 21 percent remain undecided, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

“Whether those numbers hold up in the real poll on Primary Election Day is the big question,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Weiner gets 29 percent of men and 21 percent of women. The gender breakdown for other candidates generally matches their overall tally.

Despite his high negatives, Mr. Weiner is the most favorable candidate in the race, even among minority voters. 31% of black voters support Weiner, compared to 16% for Quinn and a mere 14% for Thompson, the only African-American candidate in the field.

“Like I said two weeks ago, bad early polls don’t freak me out; good early polls don’t make me dance,” Thompson strategist Jonathan Prince said in a statement, according to Politicker. “Fundamentals matter, not public horserace polls with an irrefutable history of undercounting minority performance. See you at the runoff.”

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)