Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, joined by Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, local leaders and clergy, announces the opening of a New York State Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Site set up in the Clark Athletic Center on the campus of SUNY Old Westbury. In a new Siena College poll out this week, voters give the governor generally high marks for his handling of the pandemic, and half of New York voters say the governor should not resign right now, despite allegations of sexual harassment.
Half of New York voters do not think Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign immediately, while 35 percent say he should resign, according to a new Siena College poll out Monday.
Additionally, 48 percent of voters say he can continue to do his job as governor effectively, while 34 percent say that he cannot do his job amid the allegations of sexual harassment.
In the poll conducted from March 8 to March 12, one-third of voters say Gov. Cuomo has committed sexual harassment, one-quarter say he has not, and a plurality are unsure.
Despite calls from dozens of state lawmakers to resign immediately, voters are satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the allegations, by a margin of 57-32 percent, according to the poll of 805 registered voters.
“While many elected officials – Democrats and Republicans alike – have called for Cuomo’s resignation, by a 50-35 percent margin, the voters of New York say Cuomo should not immediately resign,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “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. A majority of New York City voters and a plurality of voters from both upstate and the downstate suburbs say he should not resign.”
“While more voters, 35 percent, say Cuomo has committed sexual harassment than those who say he has not committed sexual harassment, 24 percent, the plurality of voters, 41 percent, are undecided,” Greenberg said.
Meanwhile, voters approve of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, 60-33 percent, virtually unchanged from 61-34 percent last month.
Voters give Cuomo positive grades on four specifics related to the pandemic — communicating, providing accurate information, reopening plans, and managing the vaccine rollout. However, when it comes to making COVID-related nursing home death data public, voters give Cuomo a negative grade, 27-66 percent.
Cuomo has twice apologized for behavior that “may have been insensitive or too personal,” or if his comments “made others feel in ways [he] never intended.”
He is asking for New Yorkers to wait until the independent investigation being carried out by the State Attorney General’s Office is completed before any decision about resignation or impeachment is made.
“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.”
Overall, Cuomo has a 43-45 percent favorability rating, down significantly from 56-39 percent in February.
His job performance rating is 46-52 percent, down from 51-47 percent last month. Currently, 34 percent of voters say they are prepared to re-elect Cuomo if he runs for re-election in 2022 and 52 percent say they would “prefer someone else,” down significantly from 46-45 percent in February.
“Cuomo’s standing with voters has clearly fallen in the last month. His favorability rating and his re-elect number are both down net 19 points, while his job performance rating is down net 10 points,” Greenberg said.
“Cuomo’s drop in all three ratings is largely the result of Democrats. Among Democrats alone, his favorability rating dropped net 31 points and his re-elect dropped net 33 points. In fact, 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.
“Voters appear to be able to compartmentalize how they feel about Cuomo,” Greenberg added. “While their views on him generally – favorability, job performance, re-elect – took a significant hit this month, voters’ views on Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic remain largely positive, except for his handling of nursing home death data,” Greenberg said. “Two-thirds of New Yorkers, including 56 percent of Democrats, give him a negative grade for making public all data about COVID-related deaths of nursing home patients.”
