Lefty incumbent state Attorney General Letitia James holds a lead of only 6 points over Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy, according to a Republican internal poll obtained by The Post. The survey puts James at 50.7% and Komatireddy at 44.7%.

That margin is sharply smaller than the 13-point spread recorded in a Siena University survey last month. About 4% of voters remain undecided, according to the latest poll.

OnMessage Inc. conducted the new survey for Komatireddy’s campaign. The firm surveyed 1,000 likely New York voters from October 12 through October 14, and the results carry a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

New poll out and James is only up 6:

Letitia James 51% Saritha Komatireddy 45% That’s basically half the lead she had last month. People who actually watched the debate went hard for Saritha. Independents are moving her way too. James has used the AG’s office for politics while crime and fraud keep hitting regular people. Saritha’s a former federal prosecutor who’ll actually do the job. @sarithaforny has my support. Vote November 3. — Thomas Kellogg (@ThomasKelloggNY) October 19, 2026

An analysis accompanying the poll suggested Komatireddy’s strong performance during the October 8 debate was largely responsible for closing the gap. The analysis said that showing provided momentum for her uphill campaign in deep blue New York.

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One in five likely voters surveyed said they watched the debate. Among that group, Komatireddy led James by a commanding 81% to 19%, according to the poll.

The picture was dramatically different among voters who did not watch the debate, with James leading Komatireddy 59% to 36%. OnMessage argued that exposure to the Republican challenger was a defining factor in the contest.

“That gap is the whole campaign in one number: the undecided and soft voters who see Saritha make the case against James move to her, and the ones who have not seen it stay with the incumbent simply by default,” OnMessage said.

Saritha Komatireddy JUST STEAMROLLED Letitia James in this debate!

Saritha Komatireddy: “New York spends $126 billion on Medicaid every year. That’s more per resident than any other state in the country, and twice as much per resident as New Jersey. That doesn’t make any sense. We’re both blue states with similar demographics and similar policies. There’s about $40 billion in unexplained spending that Letitia James has failed to investigate. We used to have one of the best Medicaid fraud units in the country under previous Democratic attorneys general. We recovered about $250 million a year. Letitia James came in, and it took a nosedive to $19 million. Under previous Democratic attorneys general, we secured about 100 criminal convictions a year. Under Letitia James, that number hit an all-time low of eight. She gets 2,000 patient abuse complaints a year and secures maybe one or two convictions. That means someone could be punching an elderly patient in a nursing home, and no one is doing anything.” https://t.co/fNwnJLj3md — I Meme Therefore I Am (@ImMeme0) October 9, 2026

DEER IN HEADLIGHTS: New York Attorney General Letitia James went completely silent when asked to name a single former state AG she admires during Thursday's debate — and her Republican challenger delivered what critics are calling the zinger of the night.

GOP challenger Saritha Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor and former Chief of Staff for the DEA, didn't hesitate: she fired back from the podium that James "only admires herself." James laughed nervously as the moderator said "Tik Tok" to fill the silence, then scrambled to recover, saying she admires "all of the past attorney generals because it is a difficult job." Komatireddy, when asked the same question, immediately named Dennis Vacco, who served as AG from 1995 to 1998. The exchange came during the final moments of the debate — and it's dominating the post-debate conversation. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin ripped James on X, saying she "went completely blank" because she has "zero institutional knowledge." James' campaign pushed back, claiming she "spent much of the debate teaching her opponent how the Office of the Attorney General actually works." — Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) October 9, 2026

The survey also found movement among registered independent voters. In May, James held a positive 3-point image among independents, with 40% viewing her favorably and 37% viewing her unfavorably while the rest remained undecided.

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James is now 11 percentage points underwater among voters without a party affiliation. Her favorable rating remains at 40%, while her unfavorable rating has climbed to 51%, with many describing their view as very unfavorable.

Komatireddy leads James among independents by 49% to 43%. The Republican pollster said a strong and properly funded closing message could make a difference with those voters.

Komatireddy is also ahead in several areas where Republican candidates need substantial support. She leads James 57% to 41% on Long Island, 54% to 44% in the broader downstate suburbs, and 50% to 44% upstate.

James maintains her overall advantage because of her commanding margin in New York City. The Democratic incumbent leads Komatireddy there by 65% to 30%, according to the survey.

The Republican leads among men by 53% to 43% and among voters without college degrees by 50% to 45%. Komatireddy also leads 51% to 46% among voters between ages 46 and 55, while the memo did not specify James’ advantage among women.

The analysis noted that James defeated poorly funded Republican challenger Michael Henry by 9 percentage points when she won her second term in 2022. The pollster said Komatireddy would still need to win over some soft or persuadable James supporters to pull off an upset.

Polling analyst Nate Silver gave OnMessage an A rating as one of the most accurate polling firms during the 2024 election cycle.

Komatireddy previously served as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn’s Eastern District of New York. She handled prominent cases involving international terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and public corruption.

James has filed numerous lawsuits seeking to block controversial Trump administration actions. Those disputes include the alleged provision of $1.4 billion to energy companies to cancel four critical offshore wind projects, along with other funding and policy matters.

James also gained nationwide attention for prosecuting Trump and his namesake company over fraudulent practices. Her campaign attacked Komatireddy’s ties to the president, with a spokeswoman saying, “Trump endorsed her, and she’d repay him by looking the other way while he sows chaos in New York.”

James also commissioned the sexual misconduct investigation of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that triggered the Democrat’s resignation in 2021, even as Cuomo denied wrongdoing.

Saritha for New York campaign manager Isabelle Daigle said interest in Komatireddy and her vision had surged following the debate. Daigle said Democrats and independents were joining Republicans around Komatireddy’s approach to crime, homelessness, and fraud, while acknowledging the campaign still faced hard work during the final two weeks.

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