By Philip Newman
Queens voters gave Mayor Michael Bloomberg their overwhelming support, but were more enthusiastic about term limits, which would bar Bloomberg from running for a third term, according to a new poll.
The Quinnipiac University poll showed Bloomberg with a 42 percent approval rate among Queens voters. But in Queens, voters were also 57 percent to 39 percent in favor of keeping term limits.
Throughout the city, Bloomberg led a list of mayoral candidates for the 2009 election. But citywide voters opposed extending term limits by a margin of 56 percent to 38 percent.
The poll found that 42 percent of Queens voters supported Bloomberg for mayor, with 12 percent for both NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), 7 percent for Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, 6 percent for City Comptroller William Thompson, 3 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) and 2 percent for Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.
“New York City voters sure like Mayor Mike and they'd love to keep him around for four more years, but not enough to change the two-term limit in the City Charter,” said Maurice Carroll, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute director.
Other aspects in the poll included:
