Democrat Bill de Blasio has 44-point lead in NYC mayoral race

NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Bill de Blasio, the Democratic candidate in the race for New York City mayor, has a 44 percentage-point lead over Republican Joe Lhota, a poll found.

The poll, conducted by The Wall Street Journal and NBC 4 New York-Marist and released Thursday, found that 67 percent of respondents said they will likely vote for De Blasio, the city's public advocate, on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Only 23 percent of respondents said they plan on voting for Lhota, a former deputy mayor and budget director under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Seven percent of respondents were undecided.

"It's about as lopsided as you can envision," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "Lhota is not a force at this point."

Lhota has called de Blasio's lead "extraordinary," but said he thinks he can improve his standing once the candidates have a chance to debate.

The poll of 1,305 adults was conducted between Sunday and Tuesday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.