The latest Siena University Poll shows Governor Kathy Hochul's favorability and job approval ratings have bumped up a notch.
Fifteen months before the election, the new Siena survey shows Governor Kathy Hochul leads Congresswoman Elise Stefanik by just 14 points in a hypothetical matchup for New York governor.
"In June, Stefanik led Hochul among Republicans, 55 to 15%. Now she leads Hochul among Republicans, 75 to 13% so the race is tightened. Long way to go. Stefanik is still unknown to largely, to about half of the voters in New York state, so she has room to grow,” said pollster Steve Greenberg, who added Hochul commands a 42 to 44% favorability rating in the poll, Stefanik’s is 27 to 32%.
"Right now, 42% of New Yorkers view Hochul favorably. 44% view her unfavorably, just underwater by two points. But it's getting narrower. It's up a little bit from back in June, when it was 42 favorable, 47 unfavorable," he said.
Forty-one percent say they don't know Stefanik or have never heard of her. Meanwhile, Hochul has voters convinced she's doing a good job.
"If we look at Hochul's job approval rating, 'do you approve or disapprove of the job that Kathy Hochul is doing as governor,' right now, 53% of New Yorkers approve of the job that she's doing. Forty-two percent disapprove of the job she's doing. It is the best job approval rating for Governor Hochul since March of 2023," Greenberg said.
Stefanik said she'll announce after the November elections this year whether she's running for governor in 2026.
Greenberg said "And we asked voters if she runs, if she wins, would that be good for New York or bad for New York? Only 37% of New Yorkers say it would be good for New York. Forty-nine percent say it would be bad for New York."
Greenberg reminds voters 'a poll is a snapshot in time,’ and despite New York's better than two to one enrollment advantage for Democrats, former Republican candidate Lee Zeldin came within six points of upsetting Hochul in the last election, so don't count Stefanik out.
"We have not had a Republican win statewide in New York in a long time. It's been 23 years - 2002, George Pataki won his third term as governor of New York. Since then, no Republican has won statewide," said Greenberg, noting the poll also found New Yorkers are dissatisfied with President Donald Trump.
"We asked voters on a bunch of different issues whether they think in his first six months as President Trump was succeeding on the issue or not succeeding. And the one that jumps out is making every day necessities like food, energy, housing more affordable. Only 23% of New Yorkers think he is making prices more affordable, but 63% of New Yorkers think he is not succeeding in making prices more affordable. Eighty-two percent of Democrats think he's not succeeding. Sixty two percent of independent voters think he's not succeeding. Republicans think he's succeeding, but only by a 54 to 25% margin. Voters also think he's not succeeding on ending wars around the world, improving America's standing in the world, protecting the rights of all Americans and ensuring that Americans feel safer in their everyday lives," Greenberg said.
The Siena Poll was conducted August 4-7, 2025, among 813 NYS Registered Voters. Of the 813 respondents, 513 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode (158 completed via text to web) and 300 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Cint). Telephone calls were conducted in English and respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest person in the household. Telephone sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline and cell
phone telephone numbers weighted to reflect known population patterns.
