De Blasio Tops 40% In New Quinnipiac Poll

No wonder the tabloids and his opponents are attacking him so fiercely:

New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has opened up a commanding lead in the race for New York City mayor, capturing 43 percent of those surveyed in a Quinnipiac Poll released this afternoon.

The poll found former city Comptroller Bill Thompson receives 20 percent and Council Speaker Christine Quinn has 18 percent of the support of those polled.

With receiving north of the magic 40 percent number, de Blasio would avoid a runoff election later in the month.

Quinnipiac was not all that accurate in 2009, so don't take this poll to the bank.

Still, you can expect the attacks against de Blasio to ratchet up accordingly after this poll - starting at tonight's final mayoral debate.