Poll: Bloomberg Down 9 Points

Michael Bloomberg is down 9 percentage points in a new Marist poll, the first one out since the mayor pushed to have term limits extended so he can seek a third term in office.

The poll, which sampled 696 city voters, had the mayor’s approval rating at 59 percent. It's not a bad number by any means, but it's the farthest he’s dropped since Marist’s August 2005 poll, which had him at 53 percent.

Despite that, in head-to-head match-ups against his announced rivals, Bloomberg would win re-election today.

Bloomberg leads Anthony Weiner, 51 to 37.
Bloomberg leads Bill Thompson, 52 to 32.
Bloomberg leads Tony Avella, 54 to 28.

Interestingly, 48 percent of New Yorkers hope the courts overturn the term-limits extension, since it was passed legislatively, and not by public referendum, which is how term limits were created in 1990s.

An interested reader pointed out that in Marist's other poll about state political figures, David Paterson is down 6 points over three weeks. Bloomberg, by contrast, is down 9 points over seven weeks.