Democrat Bill de Blasio has an enormous 3-1 lead over Republican Joe Lhota going into the general election for mayor, according to a poll released Tuesday night.
De Blasio topped Lhota 65-22 percent among likely voters, with 9 percent undecided, according to the Wall Street Journal/WNBC-4/Marist College survey.
De Blasio gained momentum following his dominating come-from-behind performance in the Democratic primary.
Lhota breezed to victory in the Republican primary — but as the heavy favorite he didn’t generate nearly as much coverage.
DeBlasio’s large lead cut across just about every voting bloc.
About the best news for Lhota was that 30 percent of the voters questioned said they didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion, meaning he still has a shot at winning them over.
Lhota’s campaign said it fully expected to start from behind.
“We always knew we’d be the underdog in this race and once New Yorkers learn more about BIll’s radical policies they will be looking for a practical alternative,” said Lhota spokeswoman Jessica Proud.
Before the poll was released, de Blasio continued picking up Democratic endorsements.
This time, however, the backing was sweeter since it came from former arch-rival Christine Quinn, who had been trading harsh attacks with deBlasio for months.
But with the primary in the bag, de Blasio said his relentless criticism of the City Council speaker for extending term limits — a centerpiece of his campaign — was a “moot” point.
“We had a difference on term limits and that’s fine,” the Democratic nominee said, standing beside Quinn outside City Hall.
“That issue by the way is made moot by the peoples’ decision in 2010 which is now the law of New York City.”
He was referring to the referendum returning the two-term limit for city politicians after Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg overturned the law in 2008.
“As mature human beings and New Yorkers we understand that people are going to have differences,” he said, adding that he “respects Christine Quinn for being a fierce competitor.”
For her part, Quinn, shrugged off the campaign vitriol as water under the bridge.
During the brutal primary, Quinn painted de Blasio as a two-faced, ineffective politician who cared more about garnering votes than building a substantive record.
But Tuesday she changed her tune.
“I’ve got to tell you I trust Bill de Blasio. I believe he will be a terrific mayor of the city of New York,” she said.
The love-fest was an odd sight for two politicians who have long been at odds.
“They were both politically smart enough not to show it publicly but privately they couldn’t hide their disdain for each other,” said one long-time Council employee.
“They have such a depth of conflict that it’s just never going to go away easily. Plus, Quinn may be doing the right thing and being supportive but you know she’s not happy about it,” added a Democratic insider.
De Blasio spent the rest of the day meeting with potential backers and raising funds.
Lhota made pilgrimages to entrenched Democrats to demonstrate he’s not a doctrinaire Republican.
He had a closed-door meeting with District Council 37, the left-leaning municipal union which endorsed de Blasio Tuesday.
Later, he met privately with Al Sharpton in Harlem.
Sharpton described their 25-minute chat as “cordial and candid.”
Lhota said it was part of his plan to reach out to all segments of the city.
“I need to talk to all New Yorkers,” Lhota said.
He declined to disclose his conversations with the union leaders.
Instead, he took several jabs at de Blasio.
“I want to unite the city of New York not divide the city of New York,”
he said.
“I’m the only candidate running for mayor who will be ready on day one.
I’ve been budget director, I’ve been deputy mayor. I don’t need any on-the-job training. I’ve run the budget of the city of New York before. I’m looking forward to being able to run the city one more time.”
Additional reporting by Beth DeFalco