Cuomo Favorability Rating Rebounds;
Overall Job Performance Remains Underwater;
Job Performance on 5 Issues All Significantly Negative
Plurality Support for ConCon with Independents Most Supportive;
Voters Divided Over Naming Tappan Zee for Mario Cuomo
By 50-36%, New Yorkers Say State Headed on Right Track
Loudonville, NY. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s favorability rating rebounded after falling to its lowest level this year in July. He now has a 56-37 percent favorability rating, up from 52-41 percent in July, according to a Siena College poll of New York State registered voters released today. He has a negative 43-55 percent job performance rating, exactly the same as July. Forty-eight percent of voters are prepared to re-elect Cuomo next year, compared to 44 percent who would prefer ‘someone else,’ up a little from 46-46 percent in July.
On specific issues – from taxes and the economy to infrastructure, mass transit and primary education – voters give Cuomo decidedly negative grades, even lower than they were in May. New Yorkers are divided on naming the new Tappan Zee Bridge for Mario Cuomo, with 44 percent in support and 42 percent opposed (up from
37-47 percent opposition in July). A plurality of voters – 45 percent – support the upcoming vote on a Constitutional Convention, with independents most supportive, Democrats supportive and Republicans divided.
“After a turbulent first half of the year that saw Cuomo’s favorability rating fluctuate from month to month, and thanks to increased support this month from Republicans and downstate voters, Cuomo’s favorability rating edged up since July and now stands at 56-37 percent, exactly the same as January of this year,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “While Cuomo’s favorability rating rebounded with Republicans this month – rising from 48 points underwater in July to now 25 points underwater – his slide with upstate voters continues.
“In May upstaters viewed Cuomo favorably by 12 points; in July, they viewed him unfavorably by seven points; and upstaters now view Cuomo unfavorably by 18 points. New York City voters view Cuomo favorably by better than two-to-one and downstate suburban voters view him favorably by 31 points, up from six points in July,” Greenberg said.
“Although Cuomo’s favorability rating rose, his job performance rating remained unchanged since July, as 43 percent say he’s doing an excellent or good job as Governor and 55 percent give him only a fair or poor rating,” Greenberg said.
“When it comes to specific issues, voters give Cuomo even more critical grades. He gets a breakeven rating on higher education, however, strong majorities of voters give him negative grades on K-12 education, economy and taxes, as well as infrastructure and mass transit,” Greenberg said.
Majority Still Know Nothing About ConCon Vote; Plurality Support ConCon, Strongest with Inds
“One-fifth of voters – up from 14 percent – have read or heard at least some about the ConCon vote in November, however, 58 percent – down from 67 percent – still say they’ve heard nothing,” Greenberg said.
“Registered voters – not likely November voters – now support ConCon by a relatively narrow 45-33 percent, with 22 percent undecided, largely unchanged from 47-34 percent support in July,” Greenberg said. “Compared to July, support is down among Democrats – from 30 points to now 13 points – up among Republicans to now breakeven, and strongest with independents, 52-30 percent.”
Voters Now Closely Divided on Naming New Tappan Zee Bridge for Mario Cuomo
“Thanks to increased support from Democrats, Republicans and downstaters, New Yorkers are now closely divided on naming the new Tappan Zee bridge – currently named for Governor Malcolm Wilson – the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, after being decidedly negative in July,” Greenberg said. “The Cuomo Bridge naming has plurality support downstate and plurality opposition upstate. Democrats support; Republicans and independents oppose.”
New Yorkers Continue to View Direction of the State Positively – But Down from May
“By a 50-36 percent margin – up from 46-40 percent in July – voters say New York is headed on the right track, rather than in the wrong direction,” Greenberg said. “Downstate voters are significantly more positive now than they were in July, with 56 percent now saying the state is on the right track. However, upstate voters – who essentially matched downstate voters in July – now say the state is headed in the wrong direction by nine points.”
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This Siena College Poll was conducted August 26-30, 2017 by telephone calls conducted in English to 771 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 +/- 4.2 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. Sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline and cell phone telephone numbers (both from Survey Sampling International) 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. SCRI, 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/SCRI/SNY.
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