LOUDONVILLE — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s popularity, which reached all-time highs during the throes of the pandemic, continues to decline across the board, according to a poll by the Siena College Research Institute.
His favorability rating is now negative, 40-52 percent, down from 43-45 in March and 56-39 in February, according to the poll. His job performance rating is negative, 42-56 percent, down from 46-52 in March and 51-47 in February.
And, while a slim majority, 51 percent, do not think he should resign amid accusations of sexual harassment and other scandals, just 33 percent are prepared to re-elect him next year if he runs, compared to 57 percent who prefer someone else — that is down from 34-52 percent in March and 46-45 percent in February.
Voters still approve of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, 60-32 percent, virtually unchanged from 60-33 percent last month.
But, by a 44-22 percent margin, voters think he committed sexual harassment with 34 percent undecided. Last month, 42 percent were undecided with 35 percent thinking he had sexually harassed female state employees.
“Voters to Andrew Cuomo: ‘we’ve got some good news and some bad news.’ On the one hand, his favorability rating is now the lowest it has ever been, with more than 50 percent of voters viewing Cuomo unfavorably for the very first time in a Siena College poll,” said pollster Steven Greenberg. “On the other hand, a majority of voters — including Democrats by two-to-one and a plurality of independents – continue to say that Cuomo should not resign, and a similar majority say he can still effectively do his job as governor.”
There was virtually no change in what Republicans think of Cuomo, but among his own party, Democrat, there was a “significant downward movement,” Greenberg said.
“In February, Democrats were prepared to re-elect Cuomo 65-26 percent. Today, Democrats say they would re-elect Cuomo next year by the narrowest of margins, 46-43 percent,” Greenberg said. “Cuomo’s favorability rating among Democrats today, 56-37 percent, is down significantly from 78-18 percent in February.”
Sixty-seven percent of Republicans think Cuomo is doing a poor job while 13 percent think he is doing a fair job.
By a margin of 72-20 percent, voters approve of increasing tax rates on millionaires. By a margin of 57-36 percent voters approve of legalizing recreational use of marijuana and they approve, by a margin of 53-39 percent, of the $2.1 billion worth of assistance to workers, including undocumented immigrants, who lost employment during the pandemic but were ineligible for federal aid.
“Collectively, New Yorkers are divided when it comes to whether the recently concluded budget process will be good or bad for people like them. Democrats overwhelmingly think the budget will be good for New Yorkers like them while Republicans even more overwhelmingly think it will be bad, and independents agree with Republicans that the budget will be bad for New Yorkers like them, two-to-one,” Greenberg said.
Odds & Ends
• Rep. Lee Zeldin, the first declared 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate, has an 18-17 percent favorability rating, comparable to Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul’s 18-13 percent favorability rating.
• President Joe Biden has a 62-33 percent favorability rating, down slightly from 64-30 percent in March. His job performance rating is 53-45 percent, also down slightly from last month’s 54-41 percent.
• Voters are not as optimistic about the end of the pandemic this month, 60 percent think the worst of the pandemic is over, compared to 27 percent who say the worst is still to come. Last month it was 62-25 percent.
• Sixty percent of voters say they have been vaccinated, with another 23 percent planning to. Only 14 percent of voters say they don’t plan to get the vaccinated, down from 21 percent in March and 25 percent in January.
This Siena College Poll was conducted April 11-15 among 801 New York state registered voters. It carries a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent.