Veteran Democratic House members Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney are locked in a virtual dead heat in their Manhattan congressional cage fight, a new poll released Monday revealed.
The two powerful lawmakers garnered 31% apiece in a survey of likely voters ahead of the Aug. 23 primary in the 12th District race.
The poll, which was conducted by their upstart rival Suraj Patel, said 25% would back Patel while 12% remain undecided.
The survey showed the crosstown battle between the two longtime political allies basically unchanged in the past month, although it suggested that Patel is making up ground on both of them.
Nadler, who has represented the West Side for three decades, and Maloney, whose base is on the Upper East Side, were pushed together into one seat by redistricting after a Democratic plan that would have kept their districts separate was tossed out by the state’s highest court.
Patel ran strong campaigns against Maloney in 2018 and 2020 and is hoping that the two heavyweights will cancel out the liberal establishment vote and give him a path to an upset victory.
Some 42% of those surveyed said they don’t want to reelect either incumbent, a figure that Patel’s campaign points to as a hopeful sign for him.
Expected low turnout could complicate the race although Nadler and Maloney are both experienced campaigners with loyal backing.
Whoever wins the muggy late-summer showdown is all but certain to win in November over token Republican opposition.
Nadler heads the Judiciary Committee, while Maloney is chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, meaning New York will lose a key leadership post one way or the other.
The race is deadly serious, but Nadler had a laugh over an unwanted endorsement for his main opponent.
The liberal stalwart retweeted Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., when the staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump said he would pick Maloney if he had to choose between the two Manhattan colleagues.
“Nadler is the worst,” Gaetz wrote in a nasty gibe that the West Sider took as a badge of honor.
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