Christine Quinn is waging a desperate battle with Bill Thompson for second place in Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary as polls show Bill de Blasio with a wide lead, but below the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
The City Council speaker was at 20 percent, tying her with Thompson but well behind de Blasio, who was backed by 36 percent of voters, according to a Wall Street Journal/WNBC 4 New York/Marist College poll.
“Assuming these polls are right, the real race this Tuesday is between Quinn and Thompson,” veteran political consultant Jerry Skurnik said.
The soaring de Blasio could still avoid a runoff. Eight percent of the 936 registered Democrats surveyed were undecided, meaning that if he captures half their votes, he could score the 40 percent needed to skip straight to November’s general election.
Taking second could also be a path to a comeback for Quinn or Thompson, since this year, for the first time, the runoff is three weeks from the primary instead of the usual two.
“That should help the candidate trying to come from behind, because they’ll have more time,” said Skurnik.
The poll results were released hours after all three candidates held star-studded events.
De Blasio appeared with Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei, Quinn was lauded by actress Lorraine Bracco, and Thompson attended church in Harlem with California Rep. Maxine Waters.
De Blasio got an additional boos from Gov. Cuomo, who has stayed out of the race, but rushed Sunday to defend de Blasio and his family against comments made by Mayor Bloomberg.
Cuomo blasted Hizzoner for a recently published New York magazine interview in which he accused de Blasio of running a “racist” campaign by featuring his biracial family in commercials.
De Blasio told The Post yesterday that he appreciated Cuomo’s “personal support” and “the vote of confidence he offered.”
Quinn, Thompson and disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner appeared on the Hot 97 radio station, where Quinn and Thompson were both apparently thrown when asked to name their favorite hip-hop artist.
Quinn named Hell’s Kitchen native Alicia Keys — generally regarded as an R&B singer — while Thompson stammered and stalled before blurting out the safest of all choices, Jay-Z.
Weiner, however, launched into a lengthy discussion illustrating his knowledge of urban contemporary music. “I’m a big fan of Luda [Ludacris]. I like Nas, [but] I’m a little bit more of a dance-hall/reggae guy than I am a hip-hop guy,” Weiner said.
Additional reporting by Kathryn Cusma, Erin Calabrese, David K. Li and S.A. Miller