Anthony Weiner Drops in Polls After New Sext Bombshell

Huma Abedin, wife of Anthony Weiner, a leading candidate for New York City mayor, speaks during a press conference on July 23, 2013 in New York City.

Image by John Moore/Getty Images

By Reuters July 25, 2013

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has reclaimed her lead over former Congressman Anthony Weiner in the city’s mayoral race, according to the first poll since new details emerged about Weiner’s explicit chats with women he met online.

Less than two months ahead of the Sept. 10 Democratic primary, Quinn leads her rivals with 25 percent of the vote among Democrats, with Weiner trailing her by nine percentage points, according to the NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll.

Weiner, who led the field with 25 percent in June, has fallen to 16 percent.

In the latest poll, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former city comptroller Bill Thompson are tied for third place with 14 percent, while city Comptroller John Liu follows with 7 percent.

“Christine Quinn has reclaimed the front-runner status. Anthony Weiner has fallen back into the pack,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

New York Democrats were closely divided on the question of whether Weiner should stay in the race, with 43 percent saying he should bow out and 47 percent saying he should stay in. But when asked if Weiner deserves a second chance, fewer than half said he did – down from 59 percent who said that a month ago.

“Clearly, redemption overload has set in,” Miringoff said in an interview.

The telephone survey of 551 city Democrats had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percent.

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