(Bloomberg) -- Andrew Yang began airing his first TV ad of the New York City mayoral campaign on Thursday, a day after a poll showed him slipping from front-runner status for the first time since entering the race in January.
The $1.5 million buy features a 30-second commercial titled “Hope Is on the Way” that shows Yang, the entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, mingling with New Yorkers in Coney Island and other neighborhoods. A newcomer to city politics, he says: “We need new leadership, we need new ideas.”
Yang spokesman Eric Soufer said the campaign purchased the ad time before a survey of the race conducted by Washington-based GQR was released this week. The poll of 500 likely Democratic voters, reported by Politico, showed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in the lead, with 21% of respondents naming him as their first choice, followed by Yang with 18%.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer was third with 15%. No other candidate was the first choice of more than 10% of respondents. The poll was conducted over three days during which Stringer was hit with accusations that he sexually harassed a woman 20 years ago. Stringer has denied the allegations.
Soufer said the poll didn't take into account that this election will be the first to be conducted with ranked choice voting, in which ballots will permit voters to list their five top preferences for mayor.
The winner of the June 22 primary is likely to win the general election in heavily Democratic New York City.
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