VOTERS GIVE CUOMO HIS BEST FAVORABILITY AND JOB PERFORMANCE RATINGS IN MORE THAN TWO YEARS
SUPPORT REMAINS STRONG FOR MILLIONAIRE’S TAX, RIDESHARING, LIMITING LEGISLATORS’ OUTSIDE INCOME, FREE SUNY/CUNY TUITION FOR MIDDLE CLASS AND TERM LIMITS
For the first time in more than two years, 60 percent of New Yorkers have a favorable view of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and his job performance rating is now positive for the first time since July 2014, according to a Siena College poll of 723 registered voters released February 27.
Cuomo’s favorability rating is 60-to-34 percent, up from 56-to-37 percent last month. His job performance rating is 50-to-48 percent, up from a negative 45-to-53 percent last month. And for the first time, half of voters now say they are prepared to re-elect him.
When asked the question, “If Andrew Cuomo runs for re-election as Governor next year, as things stand now, would you vote to re-elect him or would you prefer someone else,” 50 percent of all voters answered yes, 41 percent they would prefer someone else, and 9 percent said they don’t know or they have no opinion. Breaking it down by party, 66 percent of Democrats, 29 percent of Republicans and 40 percent of independents and other party affiliations said they are prepared to re-elect Cuomo.
Meanwhile support remains strong for several of the governor’s budget proposals, currently being considered by the Legislature.
“Voters like Cuomo more now than at any time since his second term began. Maybe it’s because they like his 2017 agenda, or perhaps it’s a comparison with the president, or it might simply be because it’s been quiet the last few months on the corruption front,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
“Whatever the reason, Cuomo is riding high with New Yorkers right now. Sixty percent of voters view him favorably, half give him a positive job performance rating and half say they are prepared to re-elect the governor next year.”
More than three-quarters support Cuomo’s proposals to both extend the millionaire’s tax and allow ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft to operate across New York. On ridesharing, at least 70 percent of voters from every region and party are supportive. At least 70 percent of voters from every region support the millionaire’s tax, as do 85 percent of Democrats, 76 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans.
The governor also enjoys strong bipartisan support for enhancing the middle-class child care tax credit, limiting legislators’ outside income and imposing term limits on both legislators and statewide office holders. His proposal to make SUNY and CUNY tuition free for families earning less than $125,000 per year has support from both Democrats and independents, and is opposed by Republicans.
Raising the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 is now supported by a small majority of voters, with Democrats strongly supportive, independents closely divided and Republicans opposed. Similarly, the Dream Act enjoys overwhelming Democratic support, while independents narrowly oppose it and three-quarters of Republicans oppose it. However, Voters from every party and region are agreed in their opposition to the governor’s proposal to complete a 750-mile biking and hiking pathway across the state.
TRUMP’S FAVORABILITY RATING CONTINUES TO FALL WITH NEW YORKERS; OVERALL JOB PERFORMANCE RATING MORE THAN TWO-TO-ONE NEGATIVE
While Cuomo’s popularity is growing in New York, Trump’s already low ratings continue to slide.
The new president now has a negative 36-to-59 percent favorability rating among all voters in New York, down from a negative 37-to-55 percent favorability rating last month. Only 29 percent of New Yorkers give him a positive job performance rating, while 68 percent rate his job performance negatively.
On nine specific issues — including foreign relations and policy, working with Congress and keeping the nation safe from terrorism — between 59 and 72 percent of New York voters give the president a negative job performance rating.
“In this deep blue state, Trump enjoys support from his fellow New York Republicans. Seventy-one percent, down from 77 percent last month, view him favorably and 61 percent of Republicans give him a positive job performance rating,” Greenberg said. “However, 79 percent of Democrats view him unfavorably and 85 percent give him a negative job performance rating, while 53 percent of independents view him unfavorably and 64 percent rate his job performance negatively.
“Voters from every region of the state view Trump unfavorably, although it’s only a plurality of downstate suburbanites, and at least 62 percent of voters from every region give the president a negative job performance rating,” Greenberg added. “While 54 percent of white voters view Trump unfavorably, 83 percent of black voters and 77 percent of Latino voters have an unfavorable view of him. Similarly, 62 percent of white voters give him a negative job performance rating, compared to 96 percent of black voters and 86 percent of Latino voters.”
Meanwhile, eight months before New Yorkers vote on whether or not to hold a constitutional convention, 71 percent of registered voters have heard “nothing at all” about the procedure. However, when asked if they “support or oppose having a New York state constitutional convention in which delegates propose changes to the state Constitution for voters to approve or reject,” 63 percent support the idea.
“Although 71 percent of voters say they have read or heard nothing about the vote this November on whether New York should hold a constitutional convention, and only 11 percent saying they’ve read or heard at least some about it, a strong majority of voters continues to say they support having a ConCon,” Greenberg said. “Voters say they support a ConCon by a 63-to-24 percent margin, down a little from 68-to-19 percent support last June. About two-thirds of Democrats, independents, New York City voters and upstaters call themselves ConCon supporters, while support among Republicans – 53 percent – and downstate suburbanites – 54 percent – is strong but considerably weaker.”
This Siena College Poll was conducted February 19-23, 2017 by telephone calls conducted in English to 723 New York State registered voters. Respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest male in the household. It has an overall margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
