A new YouGov survey asked Americans about New York politicians, including several who are running for New York City mayor in the 2025 general election. While the vast majority of Americans don’t live in New York City, about two-thirds say that what happens in New York City is important to what happens to the country as a whole.
Among the 14 New York politicians asked about, there’s a three-way tie for the politician who is viewed most favorably. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani (who is also a state assembly member), and NYC Comptroller Brad Lander all have net favorability scores of +1 among U.S. adult citizens. Many Americans don’t know how they view Jeffries (38%), Mamdani (42%), and — especially — Lander (73%).
The politicians viewed least favorably by Americans are former New York governor and current independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo (-35) and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani (-26). Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election as an Independent, isn't viewed much more positively (-21).
The 12% of Americans who have ever lived in New York City view Mamdani (+20) and Lander (+18) most favorably. Cuomo is least favorably viewed by this group, at -29. Compared to Americans who haven't lived in New York City, those who have are more likely to be Democrats (30% vs. 39%) and identify their political viewpoint as liberal (29% vs. 40%).
Most Americans (70%) have heard at least a little about the NYC mayoral election. The same percentage (70%) say that what happens in New York City is very or somewhat important for the U.S. as a whole.
Much of the news around NYC’s upcoming mayoral election has revolved around three candidates: Mamdani, Cuomo, and Adams. How do Americans describe them?
The top words Americans use to describe Mamdani — from a list of 15 adjectives offered in the poll — are progressive (34%), charismatic (23%), and radical (23%).
The words that the largest shares of Americans choose to describe Cuomo — from the same list — are corrupt (36%), out-of-touch (30%), and divisive (18%). These are also the words that Americans are most likely to use to describe Adams: corrupt (28%), out-of-touch (18%), and divisive (14%).
Among people who have ever lived in New York City, the largest shares describe Mamdani as progressive (43%), charismatic (35%), and qualified (31%). Current and former New Yorkers are most likely to describe Cuomo as corrupt (40%), out-of-touch (34%), and misogynistic (28%). This group is most likely to describe Adams as corrupt (40%), out-of-touch (26%), and divisive (21%).
Democrats view Mandani much more favorably than Republicans do, view Cuomo similarly, and Adams less favorably. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to describe Mamdani as authentic (35% vs. 5%) and qualified (35% vs. 6%). Republicans are more likely to see him as radical (40% vs. 9%) and racist (32% vs. 2%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to see Cuomo as moderate (19% vs. 8%), misogynistic (22% vs. 13%), and a strong leader (15% vs. 8%). Republicans are more likely to see him as radical (12% vs. 3%), progressive (17% vs. 8%), and corrupt (41% vs. 32%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to see Adams as corrupt (37% vs. 20%). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see him as moderate (17% vs. 8%).
24% of Americans say if they were voting in the 2025 general election for NYC mayor, they would vote for Mamdani — as many as would vote for Cuomo (9%), Adams (8%), or Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa (7%) combined.
Among Democrats, 48% would vote for Mamdani and 9% would vote for Cuomo. Among Republicans, 15% would vote for Silwa and 12% would vote for Adams. 13% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans would not vote.
Among people who have ever lived in New York City, 43% say they would vote for Mamdani. 10% for Adams, and 9% for Cuomo. 15% say they would not vote and 10% are not sure.
39% of Americans — including 24% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans — say that compared to other U.S. cities, New York City politics is more corrupt; only 2% say it is less corrupt. 44% say that politics in NYC has about the same amount of corruption.
Among people who have ever lived in New York City, 34% say the city has more corruption than other cities and 49% think it has about the same amount of corruption. Only 8% say it has less corruption.
44% of Americans believe that in the past 25 years, corruption in New York City politics has increased. 27% think it has stayed the same, and 6% say it has decreased.
Republicans are about twice as likely than Democrats to say corruption in New York City politics has increased in the past 25 years (61% vs. 29%).
People who have ever lived in New York City are slightly more positive about how corruption in the city has changed, 37% think corruption in New York City politics has increased in the past 25 years. 32% think the level of corruption has stayed the same, and 9% think it has decreased.
Related:
- Andrew Cuomo: 73% of Democrats approve of his decision to resign the Governor’s office
- Americans wanted Cuomo out – and thought he should face criminal charges
- Governor Cuomo continues to decline in popularity, and national Democrats want him out
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted July 14 - 16, 2025 among 1,107 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Michael M. Santiago / Staff)
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