Poll Shows Virtual Tie in Comptroller's Race Another day, another poll in the 2013 election. Or two of them, actually. In the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer is in a virtual tie with Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, according to the latest Quinnipiac University findings. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they backed Mr. Spitzer, who entered the race two weeks ago, versus 45 percent who said they supported Mr. Stringer, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points. The survey included 507 Democrats likely to vote in September. Previous surveys, which showed Mr. Spitzer with a much wider lead, have relied on the broader universe of registered Democrats. Early polls tend to be dominated by candidates who are better known, and Mr. Spitzer, who resigned as governor in 2008 after admitting that he patronized prostitutes, is far better known. But in what could be a promising sign for him, only 25 percent of likely Democratic voters said his prostitution scandal should disqualify him from holding office. And two-thirds of African-American voters prefer him over Mr. Stringer, a longtime Upper West Side politician with strong labor ties. The other survey released on Thursday, the NBC New York 4/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll, suggests that, in the mayoral race, likely Democratic voters have been turned off by the latest scandal involving former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, who had been a front-runner. The survey relied on a small sample size, 320 likely Democrats, and was conducted on just one day. Such polls are subject to additional error because of the limited time to reach people.