Rep. Jerrold Nadler leads Rep. Carolyn Maloney by 9 points in Manhattan House race: Emerson College poll

Rep. Jerrold Nadler held a 9 percentage point lead over Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the feisty Democratic House race pitting the longtime Manhattan lawmakers, according to an opinion poll published Friday.

The Emerson College poll, conducted ahead of Tuesday’s TV debate and with key endorsements outstanding in the race, showed Nadler picking up 40% of the vote and Maloney scoring 31%.

Seventeen percent of voters were undecided, and 11% backed Suraj Patel, a lawyer staging a long-shot run, according to the survey of 1,000 likely primary voters. Emerson said it conducted the poll Monday and Tuesday, three weeks out from the Aug. 23 Primary Day.

Maloney, 76, and Nadler, 75, have been locked in the primary battle after a court-ordered redrawing of New York’s congressional map smashed the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Midtown into the 12th Congressional District.

For almost a decade, Maloney has represented a version of the 12th District covering the East Side of Manhattan and Queens, while Nadler has represented an incarnation of the 10th District running down the West Side into Brooklyn.

Both lawmakers pushed the other to run in a different district after the redistricting. But neither would budge from their new home.

[ Rep. Carolyn Maloney wins backing of Stonewall Democrats in NY-12 primary ]

Public polling in the race has been rare. In May, Emerson released a survey showing Maloney out in front by 10 percentage points.

An internal poll from Patel’s campaign conducted between July 23 and 27 showed Maloney and Nadler tied at 31% support. Patel notched 25% of the vote in that survey.

On Friday, Nadler dismissed Patel’s poll. “I don’t believe that poll at all,” Nadler told the Daily News before the Emerson survey emerged, but declined to discuss his own internal polling.

In a statement later on Friday, Nadler said the Emerson poll was “encouraging” but that “the only poll that matters is the one taken on August 23.”

The editorial boards of The New York Times, the Daily News and The New York Post have yet to make endorsements in the race. The Times board’s decision is considered particularly important in Manhattan.

The timing of the race — near the height of vacation season — adds another wrinkle to the unusual race in some of New York’s wealthiest neighborhoods, and could make absentee voting a major factor.

[ Democratic debate for NY-12 district between Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Suraj Patel offers few sparks ]

“It’s a close race,” said Chris Coffey, a political consultant who is closely following the contest. “But trying to poll who is going to vote on Aug. 23 would require more than a poll. It probably requires a psychic.”

The Emerson poll also offered a bleak data point for Mayor Adams, who has seen his approval rating sag in his first year leading New York City. His job approval was at 25%, with 50% of voters voicing disapproval and another 25% remaining neutral.