With Election Day next Tuesday, the showdown between incumbent U.S Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island) and Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island) in the 11th Congressional District race is shaping up to be very close, with recent polls showing Malliotakis just ahead by a few percentage points.
Rose had an easier time unseating Republican incumbent Dan Donovan in 2018.
“The most recent public poll has us winning,” said Malliotakis spokesperson Rob Ryan, who’s already claiming victory.
The NBC 4 New York Marist Poll released on Monday he refers to shows Rose trailing Malliotakis “48 percent to 46 percent among likely voters” and notes that this could be within a margin of error as well.
“We plan to continue campaigning hard with a large deployment of volunteers this weekend, doing door to door and phone banks. Assemblywoman Malliotakis will be out greeting voters, doing interviews with print and broadcast media and of course, our TV commercial, digital advertising and direct mail will all be bringing our message into the voters home,” said Ryan.
The campaign plans to continue focusing on key issues like bail reform, crime, defunding the NYPD, and taxes, he said.
Rose spokesperson Jonas Edwards-Jenks countered, pointed out that the poll also indicated that “among all registered voters, Rose leads Malliotakis by one point.”
“This split-decision poll confirms what everyone knows: this election will come down to turnout—and right now the Malliotakis campaign is getting crushed. Our internal data, along with the early and absentee returns, show record Democratic turnout while Malliotakis continues to significantly trail President Trump. Polls and pundits didn’t think we could win in 2018 and we proved them all wrong. We look forward to doing so once again,” said Edwards-Jenks.
The poll also finds that based on demographics, “Malliotakis leads among Staten Island residents, white men without college degrees and those over 45. Rose draws his strength from the district’s Brooklyn residents, Latinos, white women with college degrees and voters under 45.”
Rose said he’s been “steadfast in keeping his promises and delivering results for Staten Island and South Brooklyn.”
“The race boils down to the very simple question: who will always put country over party and deliver results. I’m proud of my record of working across the aisle to get things done, from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, increasing funding to combat the opioid epidemic, or getting a COVID-only hospital set up at the height of the pandemic, we’ve made real progress–but our work has just begun,” said Rose.
