New Yorkers Support $15 Minimum Wage 59-38 Percent;
Dems Support Overwhelmingly, Reps Strongly Oppose
Twice As Many New Yorkers Say Common Core Has Worsened Rather than Improved Public Education in New York
Cuomo Favorability (Positive) & Job Performance (Negative) Ratings Little Changed Since July; Schumer Has Two-to-One Positive Favorability Rating; Nearly Half of Voters Prepared to Re-Elect Him In ’16
Loudonville, NY. By a 59-38 percent margin, New Yorkers support Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15, and by a nearly identical 58-38 percent, they say they agree with the arguments of supporters of a minimum wage increase rather than the opponents of an increase, according to a new Siena College poll of New York State registered voters released today.
Only 19 percent of New Yorkers say that implementation of the Common Core has improved public education, while twice that number, 40 percent, believes that Common Core has worsened public education and another 24 percent say it’s had no meaningful impact.
Cuomo has a 50-42 percent favorability rating, largely unchanged from 49-44 percent in July, and his job performance rating is a negative 39-59 percent, nearly identical to a 39-60 percent rating in July. Senator Charles Schumer has a 61-29 percent favorability rating, largely unchanged from 62-27 percent in July. A year before he faces re-election, 49 percent of voters are prepared to re-elect him, while 37 percent would prefer ‘someone else.’
“There is strong overall support from voters for the Governor’s proposal to increase the minimum wage to $15, however, there are wide partisan and geographic differences. More than three-quarters of Democrats support the increase, while nearly two-thirds of Republicans oppose it and independents oppose it 52-45 percent,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “Nearly three-quarters of New York City voters support the increase, as do 56 percent of downstate suburbanites, however, upstaters are nearly evenly divided.
“Women are more supportive of the increase than men, and while those who earn less than $50,000 annually overwhelmingly support the increase, those earning more than $100,000 are closely divided,” Greenberg said.
“This Siena College poll also presented voters with arguments from supporters and opponents of increasing the minimum wage and asked whose arguments they agree with more and by a nearly identical 58-38 percent margin, voters agree with the arguments of supporters of increasing the minimum wage,” Greenberg said.
Only One in Five Voters Thinks Common Core Has Improved Public Education
“A plurality or majority of voters from every party and the non-New York City regions say that implementing Common Core has worsened public education in New York, with New York City voters being closely divided,” Greenberg said. “While one in five New Yorkers thinks that Common Core implementation has improved public schools, 64 percent say it has either had no meaningful effect on public education or it has worsened it.
“Given that Common Core was designed to improve educational standards and outcomes, the Education Department and new commissioner certainly have their work cut out for them in trying to convince New Yorkers that Common Core implementation over the last few years has been a step forward in improving public education in the state,” Greenberg said.
Cuomo’s Standing with Voters is Little Changed over Last Two Months
“It’s not like the Governor hasn’t been in public or involved in a lot of issues over the last two months since Siena College’s July poll. Minimum wage, LaGuardia Airport, naming the Attorney General special prosecutor, a trip to Puerto Rico, several appearances with the Vice President, and the Hudson River rail tunnel are just a few issues that have kept the Governor in the news,” Greenberg said. “Yet, voters’ view of Cuomo – both his personal favorability and job performance rating – is nearly identical today as to how they felt about him two months ago.”
Schumer Continues to Be Viewed Favorably by Voters; Near Majority Prepared to Re-Elect Him
“New York’s senior senator remains popular with voters. Perhaps his stance on the Iran treaty caused a significant drop in his favorability with liberals and a significant increase with conservatives, however, his overall favorability rating is largely unchanged. He has a positive favorability rating with Democrats, Republicans and independents, as well as upstaters and downstaters,” Greenberg said. “Nearly two-thirds of Democrats are prepared to re-elect Schumer next year, however, at this point, a majority of Republicans and a plurality of independents would prefer ‘someone else.’ Men are divided but women are prepared to re-elect Schumer.”
This Siena College Poll was conducted September 14-17, 2015 by telephone calls conducted in English to 817 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 +/- 4.0 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.
