NEW YORK, July 10 (UPI) -- New York City Mayor Bloomberg's approval rating is higher than when he was enjoying his political honeymoon after being elected.
A New York Daily News poll found 61 percent of city voters approved of the job the Republican mayor was doing, compared with just 29 percent who did not.
While the first-term mayor had a 60 percent approval rating after he was elected in 2002, his poll numbers dropped by two-thirds in 2003 after budget deficits caused an 18 percent property tax increase, the Daily News reported Sunday.
With crime down, $400 property tax rebates given this year to offset a tax increase, and his campaign spending $1 million a week on advertising, Bloomberg's support has widened among the city's mostly Democratic voters.
If the mayor's race were held today, Bloomberg would beat the front-running Democratic candidate, former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, 50 percent to 36 percent, said the newspaper. Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields would lose 32 percent to 53 percent, and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Rep. Anthony Weiner of Queens would trail by 22 percent or more.
