A survey conducted by Quinnipiac University shows that support for Anthony Weiner in his campaign for New York City mayor has eroded significantly after he admitted last week to exchanging sexually explicit messages with women a year after being forced to resign from Congress for such actions.

 

When asked whether or not Weiner should drop out of the mayoral race, 53% of NYC Democrats said that Weiner should withdraw, compared to 40% who said his campaign should continue. The poll also shows that in the Democratic primary race, the percentage of voters who said they would vote for Weiner dropped to 16%, compared to a poll taken before Weiner confessed last Tuesday, when he had the support of 26% of voters. The drop takes Weiner from first to fourth place in the polls.

 

Forty percent of those polled said that Weiner's actions disqualify him from consideration as a candidate, up 17 points from before the latest scandal. The new leader in the polls is New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at 27%. When asked who they would vote for if Weiner dropped out of the race, 30% said they would vote for Quinn. 

 

SEE ALSO | Weiner's Campaign Manager Resigns

 

"With six weeks to go, anything can happen, but it looks like former Congressman Anthony Weiner may have sexted himself right out of the race for New York City mayor," Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute told CNN.

 

The poll comes as Weiner faces more backlash for his "sexting" scandal. On MSNBC's "Hardball," former New York governor Eliot Spitzer was asked by Chris Matthews if he wasn't going to vote for Weiner, which Spitzer confirmed. On Monday, he was confronted before the press by a retired schoolteacher over whether the scandal proved that he was unfit to be mayor.

 

"I don’t quite understand how you would feel you would have the moral authority as the head administrator in the city to oversee employees when your standard of conduct is so much lower than the standard of conduct that’s expected of me,” said Peg Brunda, the retired teacher from Staten Island.

 

Despite the controversy, Weiner vowed to press on with his campaign, saying in a fundraising email that he would "keep doing what I've always done. I'm going to keep on fighting for my city."

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