A new poll finds 50 percent of New York voters feel Governor Andrew Cuomo should not immediately resign.The Siena Research Institute survey respondents are strongly in favor of keeping the third-term Democrat in office: they say he can still lead New York state, despite allegations and investigations. The poll was taken between March 8 and March 12.
Siena’s Steve Greenberg:
"While many elected officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, have called for Governor Andrew Cuomo's resignation, by a 50 to 35 percent margin the voters of New York say Cuomo should not immediately resign. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans say Cuomo should resign but 61 percent of Democrats and a plurality of independents, 46 percent, say he should not resign immediately. "
According to the poll, 48 percent of voters believe the Democratic governor can effectively do his job as he faces multiple sexual harassment allegations and increasing scrutiny of his handling of the pandemic.
"A strong majority of Democrats and a plurality of independents say Cuomo can govern effectively, while Republicans, two-thirds of them, disagree. When we asked voters, 'Do you think that Governor Cuomo has or has not committed sexual harassment?' voters are all across the board right now. 35 percent of voters say yes, he has committed sexual harassment. 24 percent of voters say no, they don't think he has, but a plurality of voters, 41 percent are unsure whether he has or hasn't. "
Greenberg says 57 percent of New Yorkers are satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the allegations.
"Right now Cuomo's favorability rating is 43 favorable 45 unfavorable, down significantly from when it was 56 to 39 percent last month. His job performance rating is now underwater 46 percent, positive 52 percent negative, compared to 51-47 percent positive rating last month. And right now, only 34 percent of voters say they're prepared to re-elect Cuomo if he runs for re-election next year, while a 52 percent said they would prefer 'someone else.' That's down significantly from last month, when 46 percent were prepared to re-elect him and 45 percent wanted someone else."
The poll also found that voters approve of Cuomo’s handling of COVID-19 by a margin of 60 to 33 percent.
Siena also asked voters about two rising New York state government figures.
It found Democratic Attorney General Tish James, who is overseeing an investigation into Cuomo, with a 40 to 14 percent favorability rating, her highest mark yet.
Democratic Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, next in line to be governor, has a 23 to 14 percent favorability rating, but nearly two-thirds of voters have never heard of her or don’t know enough to have an opinion.
The poll of 805 registered New York state voters closed Friday, before evening calls for Cuomo to resign from Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
The survey has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points. You can have a look HERE.
