#Polls #GovernorAndrewCuomo #SenatorKirstenGillibrand #PresidentDonaldTrump #JimFranco #SpotlightNews
COLONIE – Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a 35-point lead over his Democratic Party primary challenger, Cynthia Nixon, and a 19-point lead over Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro, according to a poll released Wednesday, June 13, by the Siena Research Institute.
Also, the governor’s favorability rating among likely general election voters jumped slightly to 51-44, compared to 49-44 in April.
The poll found Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, essentially unknown to two-thirds of likely voters. Cuomo would beat him in a general election, 56-37.
Among Democrats polled, Cuomo leads Nixon 61-26, up from 58-27 in April. Nixon also leads Molinaro but by a smaller margin, 46-35, according to the poll.
“With the Democratic primary three months away, Democrats strongly view Cuomo favorably, 67-28 percent, while they view Nixon favorably by a smaller 40-26 percent,” said SRI pollster Steven Greenberg. “He has a 72-23 percent favorability rating among self-described liberals, while liberals view Nixon favorably 51-18 percent.
“Nixon has a lot of catching up to do to make this race competitive.”
According to the poll, Cuomo has the support of nearly two-thirds of the Democrats in New York City, where the party dominates, and where about half the state’s population reside. And, he has the support of nearly 75 percent of downstate suburbs.
“While he has a narrower 47-39 percent lead upstate, upstate accounted for only about one-third of the 2014 primary vote,” Greenberg said.
The poll found too there is no gender gap for Nixon, the former star of Sex in the City, with Cuomo leading with men by 31 points and with women by 37 points, according to the poll.
He also leads among black voters 74-17.
Molinaro has an 18-11 percent favorability rating with 71 percent of likely voters unable to offer an opinion about him, according to the poll.
“Molinaro also has a lot of work to do if he wants to be the first Republican to win statewide in 16 years,” Greenberg said.
Cuomo has nearly twice the support of Republicans 25 percent, as Molinaro has support among Democrats, 13 percent, with independents giving Cuomo a 4-point edge.
The poll did find Molinaro to have a 6-point lead upstate, but Cuomo has a 65-point lead in New York City.
More significantly, Cuomo has a 17-point lead in the downstate Suburbs, where Republicans traditionally have to win or do strong to win statewide office.
U.S. Senate
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has been in the upper house since 2009, holds a 61-28 percent lead over her Republican Chele Chiavacci Farley, according to the poll.
“With a nearly two-to-one, 53-28 percent, favorability rating, Gillibrand has a commanding 61-28 percent lead over Farley, who is unknown to nine out of ten likely New York voters,” Greenberg said.
The Brunswick resident leads by more than 70 points with Democrats, 83-9 percent, and 27 points with independents, 56-29 percent. Farley, a New York City financial analyst, does lead among Republicans, 56-31 percent, but it is slightly smaller than Gillibrand’s lead with independents.
State comptroller
Incumbent Comptroller Tom DiNapoli handily leads Republican Jonathan Trichter, 56-22, according to the poll.
“After more than 11 years as state Comptroller, DiNapoli remains unknown to more than half the electorate,” Greenberg said.
DiNapoli has a 32-15 favorability rating, but that compares to 5-5 percent favorability rating for Trichter, an investment banker from New York City.
Trichter does lead among Republican voters, 54-35, according to the poll.
Attorney general
The race to succeed disgraced Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who stepped down this spring among accusation he physically abused women, is wide open.
New York City Public Advocate Letitia James who has state party backing, has a 20-10 percent favorability rating, including 32-9 percent with Democrats.
Zephyr Teachout, a law professor who ran in a gubernatorial primary four years ago, has a favorability rating of 17-12 percent including 26-8 percent with Democrats.
Leecia Eve, a Buffalo attorney who used to work for Hillary Clinton, has a 5-4 percent favorability rating.
Keith Wofford, a Manhattan attorney, has a 5-5 percent favorability rating.
The poll commenced prior to U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a congressman from Putnam County, announcing his candidacy.
In a hypothetical primary, James has an early lead with 28 percent of the vote, Teachout has 18 and Eve has four. Nearly half of the Democrats say they are still not decided.
The president
Pres. Donald Trump’s favorability rating did tick up a notch but he is still viewed negatively among the majority of New Yorkers. In April, the majority of New Yorkers, 31-65, viewed him negatively while the most recent poll found his favorability rating was 38-59. His job performance is a negative 36-63, up from a negative 27-71 percent in April.
“Although he remains significantly underwater with voters in his home state, Trump has the best favorability and job performance ratings he’s had since assuming office,” Greenberg said. “He is viewed favorably by 68 percent of Republicans – almost two-thirds of whom also give him a positive job performance rating – while being viewed unfavorably by 82 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independents.”
The view New York voters have of the direction the country is headed has improved dramatically, though, but still remains significantly negative.
By a 54-39 percent margin, voters say the county is headed in the wrong direction, but that’s down from 63-30 percent in April, according to the poll. Nearly 75 percent of Democrats say the country is headed in the wrong direction while two-thirds of Republicans say it is on the right track. Independents are closely divided, according to the poll.
The poll was conducted June 4 through June 7 by calling 745 likely general election voters. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.6 percent.