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Filed Under:Bill de Blasio, christine quinn, John Liu, Maurice Carroll, Mayor, Poll, Quinnipiac University, Stan Brooks, William Thompson
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (file/Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (file/Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A new poll finds New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continues to gain steam in the Democratic primary for mayor.

The Quinnipiac University poll shows Quinn could get 37 percent of the vote. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is next, with 14 percent. Former City Comptroller William Thompson has 11 percent and current Comptroller John Liu has 9 percent.

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“Council Speaker Christine Quinn is edging up toward that magic 40 percent that would make her the Democratic nominee without a primary run-off,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Is that possible in a four-candidate field? We’ll watch as this develops.”

The poll also found that New York City voters know very little about the Republican candidates for mayor: Former MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph Lhota, businessman John Catsimatidis, publisher Tom Allon, former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and Doe Fund founder George McDonald.

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“Lhota’s numbers are weak but they’re better than his opponents. I mean, if he’s anonymous, they are invisible,” said Carroll.

Respondents backed any of the leading Democrats over Lhota by as much as a three-to-one margin, the poll found.

“If two-thirds of New Yorkers don’t know anything about you, can you be elected mayor? That’s the question,” Carroll said.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,017 New York City voters from Feb. 20 to Feb. 25. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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