Cuomo Favorability & Job Performance Ratings Slip a Little;
Voters Give Gov. Low Grades on Education, Economy,
Corruption & Balancing Upstate/Downstate Needs
Feud? Overall, NYS Voters Stand with Cuomo Over de Blasio;
Democrats and NYC Voters Side Slightly More with Mayor Over Gov.
Three-Quarters of Voters Have Heard Nothing About 2017 Vote for
Constitutional Convention; More than 2/3 Currently Support ConCon
Loudonville, NY. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s job performance and favorability ratings both slipped a little since May, with his favorability rating dropping below 50 percent for the first time since he’s been Governor. On eight specific job performance ratings, more than 60 percent give Cuomo a rating of only fair or poor on four, including improving public education, improving the state’s economy, reducing corruption, and balancing the needs of upstate and downstate, according to a new Siena College poll of New York State registered voters released today.
Statewide, by a two-to-one margin voters say Cuomo is more effective than New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and a plurality says Cuomo is more trustworthy and his political beliefs are closer to theirs. A plurality of statewide voters also side with Cuomo over de Blasio in their current public feud. However, other than on effectiveness, a plurality of New York City voters and Democrats lean toward de Blasio over Cuomo. While very few voters have heard or read anything about a 2017 vote on whether or not there should be a Constitutional Convention, by a 69-15 percent margin, voters support a Constitutional Convention.
Cuomo’s favorability rating is 49-44 percent, down a little from 53-44 percent last month. He has a negative 39-60 percent job performance rating, down a little from a negative 41-59 percent last month.
“For the first time as Governor – and the first time since June 2007 – Cuomo’s favorability rating dips below 50 percent. Similarly, it’s the first time 60 percent say he’s doing a fair or poor job as Governor, compared to less than 40 percent of voters rating his job as excellent or good,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
“While voters give the Governor a positive – though not overwhelmingly strong – grade on his handling of the recent prison break and a mixed grade on making the state more business friendly, they give him negative grades on six other issues,” Greenberg said.
“Nearly two-thirds give Cuomo a negative rating for improving the state’s economy. Two-thirds rate him negatively for balancing the needs of upstate and downstate – including at least 60 percent from each region. And nearly three-quarters give him negative grades for improving the quality of public education and reducing corruption in state government,” Greenberg said.
“On education, corruption and balancing upstate/downstate needs, more voters say Cuomo’s doing a poor job than say he’s doing an excellent or good job combined,” Greenberg said. “Democrats only give the Governor positive ratings on two issues – the prison break and making the state business friendly – while a majority of Democrats give him a negative rating on five of the issues. Even voters who view Cuomo favorably only give him positive rating on four issues, while they give him negative grades on four issues.”
Cuomo/de Blasio Feud: NYC Voters with de Blasio; Suburbanites/Upstaters Side Stronger with Cuomo
“Among all voters across the state – as well as among Republicans, independents, upstaters and downstate suburbanites – Cuomo is seen as more effective, trustworthy and representative of their views. And thus these groups all side with Cuomo over de Blasio in their ongoing public war of words,” Greenberg said. “But New York City voters and Democrats are more in the de Blasio camp. Although even Democrats and City voters believe Cuomo is more effective, a plurality of them believe that de Blasio is more trustworthy, more representative of their beliefs, and by narrow margins, lean to de Blasio over Cuomo in the public feud.
“Voters under 35 years-old and black voters are also more firmly in the de Blasio camp,” Greenberg said. “In the feud, white voters side with Cuomo two-to-one, while black voters side with de Blasio more than two-to-one.”
De Blasio, Not Viewed Favorably Statewide, is Comparable to Cuomo with Dems & NYC Voters
“De Blasio has a negative 37-43 percent favorability rating statewide, down sharply from 41-27 percent in November 2013, immediately after his election,” Greenberg said. “However, among New York City voters, he’s viewed favorably 58-36 percent, compared to Cuomo’s 57-33 percent, and among Democrats he has a 52-32 percent favorability rating, compared to Cuomo’s 63-31 percent.”
Voters: There’s a ConCon Vote? We Support It!
“While only six percent of New Yorkers say they have heard or read a great deal or even some about the 2017 vote on whether New York should hold a Constitutional Convention, and 75 percent say they have heard nothing at all about it, by an overwhelming 69-15 percent margin, voters support having a Constitutional Convention,” Greenberg said. “Huge majorities of voters from every party and region, voters of every age group, gender, race and religion, as well as every ideology and income bracket support having a ConCon.
When the Siena Poll last asked about the ConCon, voters were strongly in support – 58-26 percent in June 2010 – however, events in Albany over the last few years seem to have only intensified the support of voters for the state to have its first Constitutional Convention in half a century,” Greenberg said.
Corruption Still Very Serious Issue; Half of Voters Now Say They Are Less Likely to Re-Elect Legislators
“With 90 percent of voters saying state government corruption is a serious problem – 51 percent saying very serious – it is not surprising that 49 percent of voters say recent scandals make them less likely to re-elect their state legislators next year, up from 37 percent in May,” Greenberg said. “Only 11 percent say they are more likely to re-elect, while 34 percent say the recent scandals will have no effect on their vote for legislators next year, down from 49 percent in May.
Plurality of Voters See State Heading in the Wrong Direction
“Only 40 percent of voters think the state is headed on the right track, while 45 percent think the state is headed in the wrong direction, down a little from 44-46 percent in May,” Greenberg said. “Upstaters say the state is headed in the wrong direction by a 20-point margin, and downstate suburbanites agree by a 13-point margin. New York City voters say the state is on the right track by a 12-point margin, down from a 15-point margin in May.”
This Siena College Poll was conducted July 6-9, 2015 by telephone calls conducted in English to 802 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 +/- 3.9 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. Sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample provided by Survey Sampling International of landline and cell phone telephone numbers from within New York State weighted to reflect known population patterns. Data was statistically adjusted by age, party, region and gender to ensure representativeness. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in NYS. 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.
