Poll: Weiner Could Shake Up NY Mayor's Race

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner would lose the race for New York mayor if the election were held today, according to a poll released Tuesday that shows him running second behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in a Democratic primary.

According to an NBC New York/Marist survey of 1,127 adults, 46 percent of registered Democrats oppose his mayoral candidacy compared to 40 percent who support it.

Still, those numbers are better than a similar poll in October, which found that 57 percent of New York Democrats were against Weiner running for mayor.

At the time, some said it was too early for Weiner to consider re-entering politics following his resignation from Congress in 2011 when reports that he sent explicit photos of himself to women.

In a recent interview with The New York Times magazine, Weiner expressed his regret over the incident and signaled he was considering a return to public office.

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In the Marist survey conducted April 11-15, Weiner's favorability ratings among Democratic respondents had also increased over October poll results, which showed that 34 percent still viewed him a favorable light. The Marist poll revealed that 45 percent of those surveyed feel that way today.

The poll also showed Weiner trailing Democratic favorite Quinn at the moment by a margin of 26 percent to his 15 percent. But he was ahead of four other candidates in the field, suggesting that his presence would force a runoff.

“Right now, a Weiner candidacy attracts double-digit support in the Democratic primary,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “He makes it even more difficult for any of the Democratic contenders to reach the needed forty percent to avoid a run-off.”

The Marist survey also found that if Weiner were to win the Democratic primary in runoff, he would go on to beat Republican frontrunner Joe Lhota in the general election by an overwhelming margin of 51 percent to 28 percent.