Cuomo Maintains Large 29-Point Lead Over Astorino;
His Favorability & Performance Ratings Hit Lows as Gov.
Schneiderman Still Leads Cahill By 16 Points, Down from 27
DiNapoli Leads Antonacci by 29 Points, Down Slightly from 34
Loudonville, NY. Although his favorability and job performance ratings only fell a few points from last month and are now at the lowest levels they have been since he’s been Governor, Andrew Cuomo maintains a large 56-27 percent lead over Rob Astorino, with Howie Hawkins getting seven percent and 10 percent undecided, according to a new Siena College Poll of likely New York gubernatorial voters. It was 58-26-6 percent in August. Cuomo’s favorability rating is 55-40 percent, down from 57-36 percent last month, and he has a negative 42-56 percent job performance rating, down from 44-55 percent last month.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman continues to lead his Republican opponent, John Cahill, but the lead has dropped from 54-27 percent last month to 50-34 percent today. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli continues to hold a large 56-27 percent lead over Onondaga County Comptroller Bob Antonacci, down slightly from 58-24 percent in August.
“The campaign season – both the primary and general election – is certainly inflicting some bruises and scrapes on Cuomo, however, with less than six weeks until Election Day, voters continue to seem content to offer him another four years as governor,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “His favorability rating is now the lowest it’s been since 54 percent viewed him favorably in September 2008. This is the first time 40 percent of voters have viewed Cuomo unfavorably since 42 percent viewed him unfavorably in October 2006, the month before he was elected Attorney General.
“And his job performance rating dropped again this month, albeit slightly. For the first time ever, three times as many voters say he’s doing a poor job as governor compared to those who say he’s doing an excellent job,” Greenberg said. “That said, Cuomo’s favorability rating is still positive while Astorino remains largely unknown to 40 percent of voters, and among those who have an opinion about him, they are evenly divided. Additionally, on six prominent issues, voters said Cuomo would do a better job than Astorino by between 17 and 29 points.”
Schneiderman Still Has Double Digit Lead, Although Cahill Narrows the Gap
Schneiderman has a 27-23-50 percent favorability rating (down from 25-16-59 percent last month). He has a
39-35 percent re-elect rating (down from 39-25 percent last month). Cahill has a 19-15-66 percent favorability rating (up slightly from 10-9-80 percent in August).
“As the old political cliché goes, you need 50 percent plus one to win the election. Schneiderman is currently standing at 50 percent. Cahill has cut what was a large 27-point Schneiderman lead in August to a 16-point lead with still more than five weeks until Election Day,” Greenberg said. “Cahill has increased his lead among Republicans from 34 points to 49 points, significantly outpacing either Astorino or Antonacci with Republicans.
“Schneiderman continues to have a huge 73-18 percent lead among Democrats and is maintaining a double-digit lead with independent voters,” Greenberg said. “Schneiderman continues to crush Cahill in New York City and hold a double digit lead in the downstate suburbs. Cahill has taken a narrow five-point lead upstate, after trailing by 17 points among upstate voters last month. Schneiderman leads by 71 points with black voters and 42 points with Latino voters, however, Cahill is running dead even, 42-42 percent, with white voters, after trailing with white voters by 12 points last month.
DiNapoli Continues Huge Lead Over Antonacci
DiNapoli has 30-17-52 percent favorability rating (from 26-13-61 percent last month). Currently, 40 percent say they are prepared to re-elect him, with 33 percent preferring ‘someone else’ (down from 41-25 percent last month). Antonacci, has a 11-14-75 percent favorability rating (from 9-9-82 percent in August).
“DiNapoli continues to appear to be coasting to re-election. He has the support of three-quarters of Democrats, leads nearly two-to-one with independents and nearly one-third of Republicans say they’re supporting DiNapoli, providing Antonacci with only a 20-point lead among Republicans. DiNapoli leads by 41 points in New York City, 22 points in the suburbs and 23 points upstate,” Greenberg said.
State Legislature Viewed More Favorably than the House of Representatives
“Heading into the election, voters have close to break-even views of both houses of the State Legislature with the Assembly having a 40-44 percent favorability rating and the State Senate 40-46 percent,” Greenberg said. “When it comes to the U.S. House of Representatives, 57 percent view the House unfavorably, compared to only 33 percent who have a favorable view. And on this issue, Republicans and Democrats are in complete agreement.”
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This Siena College Poll was conducted September 18-23, 2014 by telephone calls to 809 likely New York State registered voters. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points. Data was statistically adjusted by age, party, region, race/ethnicity, and gender to ensure representativeness. Sampling was conducted via random digit dialing to landline and cell phones weighted to reflect known population patterns and historic New York State gubernatorial turnout. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in New York State. SRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information, call Steve Greenberg at (518) 469-9858. For survey cross-tabs: www.Siena.edu/SRI/SNY.