Survey Shows Andrew Yang Trails in NYC Mayoral Race

Former Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang is trailing in New York City’s mayoral race, according to a McLaughlin & Associates survey.

Yang, whose rise to political fame included his commitment to making a universal basic income (UBI) a reality, is falling behind in the city’s Democrat primary, with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams leading the pack with 21.3 percent support. Former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) Maya Wiley came in second with 16.5 percent, and former Sanitation and New York City Housing Authority head Kathryn Garcia trailed closely behind with 16.2 percent support. Yang came in a distant fourth, garnering 9.6 percent support.

“You’re heading into a close three-way race and any one of the three can win,” pollster John McLaughlin said, leaving Yang out of the equation. “Adams is in the lead but it’s a tenuous lead.”

Yang made waves last month after declaring that noncitizens should have the right to vote.

“Now how can we continue to invest in our democracy to make it better here in New York City. I think we should enable young people to vote starting at age 16,” he said before declaring that the right to vote should be extended to noncitizens as well.

“The second thing we should do is expand the franchise to noncitizens, lawful permanent residents,” Yang said at the “reforming democracy” press event:

And immigrants from the core of so many of our neighborhoods and communities. There are approximately 6220,000 lawful permanent residents, you probably think of them as green card holders, who are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Their kids go to our schools. They supply many of the jobs that we rely upon. They should have a say in the future of their city. too.

“We can enable green card holders, lawful permanent residents, to be able to vote,” Yang said, adding, “We should enable lawful permanent residents to vote. This is their city, too. So young people, noncitizens, we have to invest in the mechanics of our democracy at a higher level.”

This is far from the first poll showing Yang struggling to perform well in the city’s mayoral primary.  A PIX11/NewsNation/Emerson College released last week showed the tech entrepreneur coming in third place with 15 percent support.

New York City’s primary is June 22.