NYC Mayoral Race Poll 2013: Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio, Bill Thompson Neck-In-Neck Ahead of Democratic Primary

The New York City mayoral race is getting tighter at the top as the list of candidates thins down in the lead up to the September primary, according a series of polls released last week from NBC/Marist/Wall Street Journal and Quinnipiac.

For Democrats, the numbers spell out a neck-in-neck race between City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former comptroller Bill Thompson. Meanwhile, a couple scandal-ridden candidates - former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner and current comptroller John Liu - have fallen to a distant fourth and fifth place, respectively.

According to the Marist poll, taken over the telephone between Aug. 12 and 14, Quinn and de Blasio are tied at 24 percent amongst likely voters, with Thompson (16 percent) at their heels. The Quinnipiac poll (taken betwen Aug. 7 and Aug. 12) shows de Blasio in front with 30 percent, followed by Quinn at 24 percent and Thompson at 22 percent.

In the event that no candidate receives 40 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will enter a run-off election to determine the party's choice in the general election.

Conventional wisdom amongst New York politicos is that Thompson, who is African-American, may be underrepresented by pollsters, and could outperform expectations. In 2009, Thompson surprised pollsters by turning an expected blowout into a nailbiter, losing to incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg 50.7 percent to his 46.3 percent.

Whoever comes out on top for the Democratic side in September, they'll still have to go up against a Republican general election opponent. According to the Marist/WSJ poll, former Metro Transit Authority (MTA) commissioner Joseph Lhota leads that field with 33 percent, followed by self-made billionaire John Catsimatidis (22 percent) and homeless advocate George McDonald (12 percent).

The primaries will take place on Sept. 10, with runoffs scheduled for Oct. 1 if necessary. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 5. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than 2:1 in New York City, however, the city has not elected a Democratic mayor since 1989.