67% of New Yorkers cited Israel in mayoral vote as Mamdani cruised to victory

Exit poll shows Israel was a major factor in Tuesday’s New York mayoral election, with majority of both Cuomo supporters and Mamdani’s voters saying it impacted their decision.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The State of Israel was a top issue in the New York mayoral election on Tuesday, with most of the voters for far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani and Independent Andrew Cuomo saying it was a factor in their choice of candidate.

Amid the highest turnout in decades, voters said that Israel and the candidates’ positions on the Jewish state were important in their decision of whom to vote for.

According to the CNN exit poll, which surveyed 4,744 respondents, 67% of voters said Israel was a factor in their vote.

A total of 38% said Israel was a “major factor” in their choice of candidate, with 29% saying it was a minor factor. Just 28% said it was not a factor at all.

For the two-thirds of voters who said that Israel was a major issue in the election, support was roughly evenly divided among Mamdani and Cuomo, with 49% saying they backed Mamdani, compared to 44% who voted for Cuomo. Of those voters who said it was not a factor, 54% voted for Mamdani, with just 36% voting for Cuomo.

Only 6% of voters who said Israel was a factor voted for Sliwa, the Republican candidate, while 8% of those who said it was not a factor voted for the Republican.

Among voters who said Israel was a major factor in their vote, 47% said they voted for Cuomo, compared to 46% who voted for Mamdani.

The exit poll also found that while Cuomo carried the Jewish vote by a wide margin (63%), Mamdani received the backing of one-third of Jewish voters in the city.

Sliwa received just 3% of the Jewish vote.

According to the poll, Jews made up 15% of the electorate.

Both Catholics and Protestants favored Cuomo, while voters with no religion and those in the “other” category preferred Mamdani by wide margins.