COLONIE — More New Yorkers think Joe Biden should be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president while fewer — but still a majority — think President Donald Trump should get impeached, according to a poll released recently by the Siena College Research Institute.
“With a little more than two months till Iowa kicks off the 2020 presidential voting and five months till New Yorkers get to weigh in, Joe Biden has opened up a 10-point lead over Elizabeth Warren 24-14 percent, after the two were tied last month,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “Sanders is right on Warren’s heals with 13 percent support, followed by Pete Buttigieg with 5 percent and Kamala Harris with 3 percent.”
Warren was at 21 percent last month and Sanders was at 16 percent.
Biden leads with men and women and he leads upstate and downstate, according to the poll. Among white Democrats, he is ahead of Warren by 2 percentage points while he has a commanding 24-point lead over Sanders among black Democrats.
Democrats under 35 are squarely in Sanders’ camp and he has an 18-point lead over Warren and a 19-point lead over Biden among that demographic. Biden, though, leads by seven points among middle age Democrats and has a commanding 25-point lead among Democrats 55 and older.
Three in 10 Democrats have yet to settle on a candidate.
“Biden is seen as having the best chance to win by 35 percent of Democrats, three times more than Warren or Sanders,” Greenberg said.
TRUMP
By a margin of 52-44 percent – down from 55-38 percent last month – New Yorkers say President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office. By a larger 57-38 percent – little changed from 57-36 percent last month – they say the impeachment inquiry is “fair” rather than a “partisan attack,” according to the poll.
“While a majority of New Yorkers continues to support impeaching and removing President Trump from office, the margin has narrowed since last month, as public House impeachment hearings have begun,” Greenberg said. “More than three-quarters of Democrats continue to support it and more than three-quarters of Republicans continue to oppose it.”
However, he said, independents, who were evenly divided on the question last month, now oppose impeachment and removal 59-37 percent. And voters under 35, who had strongly supported impeachment and removal last month, are now nearly evenly divided.
By a wide margin, 54-29 percent, New Yorkers continue to say they trust House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to tell the truth more than the President, according to the poll.
Meanwhile, Trump’s favorability rating among New Yorkers edged up to 32-65 percent, from 30-67 percent last month. His job performance rating is 32-67 percent, up from 28-70 percent. And 31 percent are prepared to re-elect him, with 64 percent preferring “someone else,” up from 28-68 percent in October.
“Republicans continue to support Trump, albeit by smaller margins. While 66 percent of Republicans view him favorably and 66 percent say they are prepared to re-elect him, that support is down from 71 percent favorability and 73 percent re-elect last month. Conversely, independents, who continue to view Trump negatively, are less negative than they were in October.”
CUOMO
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a 44-49 percent favorability rating, down from 49-47 percent in October. His job performance rating is 35-65 percent, down from 41-57 percent last month.
“After two months in slightly positive territory, Cuomo’s favorability has fallen back into negative territory, and it’s largely because of Democrats. His favorability rating among Democrats is now 59-34 percent, down from 68-29 percent last month,” Greenberg said. “Cuomo’s job performance rating matches his all-time low from August. While Democrats are evenly divided on the question, more than three-quarters of Republicans and independents give Cuomo a negative job performance rating.”
OTHER STUFF
- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is still mulling a presidential run, has a 47-39 percent favorability rating among all New Yorkers and a 55-36 percent favorability rating among New York Democrats.
- By a 45-42 percent margin, similar to last month’s 46-44 percent, voters think the state is headed on the right track.
- When it comes to the direction of the country, by a 58-32 percent margin (down slightly from 62-31 percent in October) voters say the country is headed in the wrong direction.
- New Yorkers support the legalization of marijuana, 54-40 percent, virtually unchanged from 54-41 percent last month.
- A law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license is supported by 46 percent and opposed by 50 percent, down from 48-47 percent support last month.
The poll was conducted Nov. 12 through Nov. 18 by making telephone calls in English to 797 registered voters in New York state. It has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
