COLONIE — Despite growing calls by elected officials on both sides of the aisle, New Yorkers, by a 50 to 35 percent margin, do not think Gov. Andrew Cuomo should immediately resign according to a recently poll by the Siena College Research Institute.
Nearly half, 48 percent, think he can still do an effective job while 34 say he cannot. According to the poll, 35 percent say he did commit sexual harassment and 24 say he did not with 41 percent of the voters still undecided.
For the first time in months, more New Yorkers rate him unfavorably, 45 percent, than favorably, 43 percent, and only a third of those polled say they would re-elect him to a fourth term. In February, his favorability rating was 56-39. Similarly, his job performance rating is now upside down, 43 to 45, compared to 51 to 47 a month ago.
Among members of his own party, Cuomo’s favorability rating dropped a net 31 points and his re-elect dropped fell by a net 33 points. Only 46 percent of Democrats now want to re-elect Cuomo, compared to 40 percent who want someone else, down from 65-26 percent last month.
“Nearly two-thirds of Republicans say Cuomo should resign, however, 61 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of independents, a plurality, say he should not,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “A majority of New York City voters and a plurality of voters from both upstate and the downstate suburbs say he should not resign.”
Seven women, all considerably younger than the governor and all but one who were working for him, have accused the governor of sexual harassment and one claims the governor groped her in the executive mansion. Attorney General Letitia James has appointed two attorneys to investigate the allegations while state lawmakers and Congressional representatives have called on the governor to resign.
“Cuomo has offered an apology and said his office will cooperate with the independent investigation. By a 57-32 percent margin, voters say they are satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the allegations against him,” Greenberg said. “Two-thirds of Democrats are satisfied, as are 56 percent of independents; 57 percent of Republicans are not satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the allegations. Fifty-four percent of men and 59 percent of women say they are satisfied.”
Voters continue to approve of the governor’s overall handling of the pandemic, 60-33, which is virtually unchanged from a month ago. But, when it comes to making public COVID-related nursing home deaths, voters give him a negative grade, 27-66.
How the state reported deaths in nursing homes continues to an issue with the most recent reports saying the governor’s staff altered Department of Health data to make the numbers look better than they were. That revelation directly contradicts the governor’s excuse of not having the data as his reason for not releasing it. At issue is the state’s underreporting of nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent by omitting, deliberately or not, residents who died at the hospitals and not in the nursing home facilities.
Odds and Ends
- 74 percent of New Yorkers approve of President Joe Biden’s massive $1.9 trillion COVID Relief Plan compared to just 21 percent who opposed it.
- Biden’s approval rating is at 64-30, little changed from 65-29 last month
- AG James has a 40-14 approval rating, up from 36-17 percent last month
- Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul has a 23-14 percent favorability raiding but 64 percent have never hear of her.
- 65 percent think the worst of the pandemic is behind us while 23 say the worst is yet to come. Last month it was 46-36.
- 36 percent of voters say they have gotten vaccinate while another 40 percent say they plan to. Just 21 percent say they do not plan to get vaccinate, down from 25 percent in January and 22 percent last month.
- By a 59-33 margin, New Yorkers favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use, down from 63-29 percent last month.
