Poll: Weiner's lead disappears in NYC mayor's race

Catalina Camia | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Weiner: 'Citizens care about future' not my past Anthony Weiner announced he is continuing his New York City mayoral campaign amid the latest round of disclosures about his behavior. He said he was waging a bet that "citizens care more about their own future" than his past.

Christine Quinn leads Anthony Weiner by 9 percentage points

Survey is first since Weiner confirmed he sent lewd messages after resigning from Congress

Weiner%27s popularity has taken a hit among Democratic voters

WASHINGTON — Anthony Weiner has lost his lead in the New York City mayor's race after revelations he continued to send lewd messages online to women after he resigned from Congress in 2011, according to a poll released Thursday.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn garners 25% support among Democratic primary voters compared with 16% for Weiner, according to the poll by NBC 4 New York, The Wall Street Journal and the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

It's the first survey since Weiner acknowledged Tuesday that he sent more salacious messages. Last month, the same poll showed Weiner leading Quinn by 5 percentage points.

"For many Democrats, the latest revelations about Anthony Weiner are more of the same, only more so," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "Weiner has lost his lead, and his negatives are at an all-time high."

Weiner, a former seven-term congressman representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said earlier in the week that he would not quit the mayor's race, despite calls from some of his rivals and two of the city's largest newspapers to do so.

The candidate told the Associated Press and other reporters Thursday that he had exchanged salacious messages with as many as three women after he stepped down from Congress last summer. Weiner said he is "working with people" to get help for sexting and said he does not believe his behavior is an addiction.

Weiner and former New York governor Eliot Spitzer — both disgraced Democrats whose careers were undone by sex scandals — have pushed the city's politics into the national spotlight as they seek redemption. Spitzer, who paid for sex with prostitutes, resigned from the governor's office in 2008 and is running for New York City comptroller.

In other findings on the mayor's race, public advocate Bill de Blasio and former city comptroller William Thompson were tied at 14% each; 19% of Democratic voters were undecided.

The NBC 4 New York/WSJ/Marist poll shows there has been a "dramatic" shift in Weiner's popularity. More than half of Democratic voters, or 55%, have an unfavorable opinion of Weiner compared with 30% who view him favorably. Fifteen percent say they have not heard of Weiner or are unsure how to rate him, the poll shows.

Last month, Weiner's favorable rating was 52% in the poll.

"New York City Democrats were willing to give Anthony Weiner a second chance but are reluctant to excuse his behavior now," Miringoff said.

Weiner's latest scandal has also brought his wife, Huma Abedin, into the spotlight. Abedin, an aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, appeared at her husband's side at Tuesday's news conference and spoke at times haltingly about how she has forgiven Weiner and decided to stay in their marriage.

The poll found that Abedin's support makes no difference in whether Democratic voters trust Weiner as a candidate. More than seven in 10, or 73%, said her support makes no difference while 15% said it makes them more likely to trust Weiner. Twelve percent of Democrats said support from Weiner's wife makes them less likely to trust the mayoral hopeful.

The survey of 551 Democrats, taken Wednesday, has a margin of error of +/-4.2 percentage points.

Party primaries are Sept. 10. If no candidate gets more than 40% of the vote, there will be a runoff Oct. 1.

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