- More Than 2/3 Say Cost of Living Is 1 of Top 2 Albany Issues; Nearly Half Say Affordable Housing; More Than 1/3 Say Either Crime or Migrants
- Voters Oppose New Hochul Congestion Pricing Plan, 51-29%; Evenly Divided on New Nuclear Power Plants; Want NYS to Support the Federal Government’s Efforts to Deport Migrants Living Illegally in NY, 54-35%
Loudonville, NY. Governor Kathy Hochul has a negative 39-49% favorability rating, up a little from 36-51% in October (then among likely voters), and her job approval rating also got a bump to 46-49%, up from 41-51%, according to a Siena College poll of New York State registered voters released today. When asked if they would vote to re-elect Hochul or would prefer ‘someone else,’ 33% said re-elect Hochul and 57% wanted someone else.
Voters say Albany’s top 2025 priority should be cost of living, 43%, followed by affordable housing and the recent influx of migrants, each with 19%, and crime, 15%. Cost of living is identified by 71% of voters as one of two top priorities, compared to 48% for affordable housing, 38% for crime, and 35% for the influx of migrants.
A majority of voters oppose Hochul’s reinstituted $9 congestion pricing plan, 51-29%, including opposition from 56% of New York City voters and 60% of downstate suburbanites. New Yorkers are divided on building new nuclear power plants in New York, with 43% opposing and 42% supporting. By 54-35%, voters say New York State should support, not oppose, any Trump administration efforts to deport migrants living illegally in the state.
“There’s some good news for the Governor. Her favorability rating improved for the second consecutive poll, going from net -20 points in September, to now net -10 points, 39-49%. Her job approval rating is also up, now near breakeven, 46-49%, up net seven points since the last poll in October,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said. “The bad news is that both ratings remain stubbornly underwater. Hochul has not had a positive favorability rating since January of this year and she has never had 50% or more voters view her favorably.
“And as we now enter the 2026 gubernatorial election cycle, Hochul starts with less than an enthusiastic welcome from the voters. Only one third of voters – including only 48% of Democrats – say they’re prepared to re-elect Hochul, while 57% of voters – 40% of Democrats – say they want ‘someone else.’ Not surprisingly, 85% of Republicans want someone else, but so do 65% of independents,” Greenberg said.
“Voters say that all things being equal they’d prefer a Democrat over a Republican to be the next governor, 52-34%, with 85% of Democrats saying Democrat, 85% of Republicans saying Republican, and independents siding with the Republicans 39-29%,” Greenberg said. “When only Democrats are asked if they want Hochul as their nominee in 2026, 49% say yes, while 32% say no, and the rest are undecided.”
Voters Tell Albany that the Cost of Living Should Be at the Top of Their Priority List
“Elected officials might want to listen when more than two-thirds of voters – including 77% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 60% of Republicans – tell them that the cost of living is one of their top two priorities for the coming legislative session. And 43% said it was the top priority,” Greenberg said. “Nearly half of voters said the availability of affordable housing should be one of the top two issues.
“Crime and the influx of migrants were both top two priorities for more than one-third of voters,” Greenberg said. Only 22% of Democrats and 36% of independents said that the influx of migrants should be a top two issue, while 60% of Republicans said it should be a top two priority, tying with cost of living for the lead among Republicans.
“Voters also say that they haven’t seen progress on those issues. In fact, 54% of voters say that crime has gotten worse in New York State over the last year. Fifty-four percent also say the migrant influx has gotten worse, while 68% say the availability of affordable housing has gotten worse in the last year. And a whopping 76% of New Yorkers – three-quarters – say the cost of living has gotten worse,” Greenberg said.
Congestion Pricing Redux Has Voters – Particularly Downstaters – Opposed
“There is essentially no group of New Yorkers that support the Governor’s reinstituted $9 congestion pricing plan for Manhattan. Democrats come close to break even, with opponents edging out supporters 42-40%. It’s opposed by City voters nearly two-to-one and downstate suburbanites better than two-to-one,” Greenberg said. “There is very little racial or gender divide on congestion pricing.
To Build New Nuclear Power Plants in NY or Not – Voters are Closely Divided
“While there is a partisan divide, it’s not as wide as it is on many other issues. Republicans support new nuclear power plants being built in New York, 55-31%, while Democrats oppose 51-35%, and plurality of independents support by a narrow 44-40%,” Greenberg said. “What might be surprising is the even bigger gender divide, as men support new nuclear power plants by 30 points, 59-29%, and women oppose them by 27 points, 56-29%.
“When it comes to New York’s energy policy – issues such as fracking, carbon emissions, offshore wind – a plurality of voters would trust the Hochul administration over the Trump administration, 49-38%,” Greenberg said. “Here, we do see the expected partisan divide, with 83% of Republicans trusting Trump and 73% of Democrats trusting Hochul. Independents split down the middle, 40-40%.”
Majority of Voters Wants NYS to Support Trump Efforts to Deport Migrants Illegally Living in NY
“While a small majority of Democrats, 51-38%, want the State to oppose any efforts the Trump administration takes to deport migrants living illegally in New York, Republicans overwhelming, 87-8%, and independents strongly, 54-30%, want New York State to support such efforts from the Trump administration,” Greenberg said.
“A majority of voters from the City, 51%, upstate, 54%, and the downstate suburbs, 58%, want the State to support the Feds efforts,” Greenberg said. “Supporting the Feds also has majority support from white and Black voters, and a plurality of Latino voters, 47-36%.”
Trump Fav Still Underwater (Not with Reps); Voters (Not Reps) Say 2nd Trump Presidency Bad for NY
President-elect Trump has a negative 37-59% favorability rating, little changed from 38-60% among likely voters in October. By a 50-39% margin, voters say the second Trump presidency will be bad for New York. In December 2016, New Yorkers thought a Trump presidency would be good for New York by a narrow 47-45%.
“When Trump took office in January 2017, his favorability rating, 37-55%, was not very different from today. Currently, he’s viewed favorably by 85% of Republicans, and unfavorably by 83% of Democrats and 53% of independents,” Greenberg said. “Not surprisingly 83% of Republicans think Trump’s second presidency will be good for New York, while 73% of Democrats say bad. Independents ever so barely tilt toward good, 43-42%.”
Odds & Ends
- Voters say, 48-44%, it’s not likely the Trump administration will fund major NY infrastructure projects, with 79% of Republicans thinking they will and 66% of Democrats thinking they won’t.
- Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick for EPA and most recent Republican gubernatorial candidate, has a 28-31% favorability rating, down from 46-32% in December 2022, immediately after the campaign. Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s appointment to be US Ambassador to the United Nations, has a 22-29% favorability rating, her first time in a statewide Siena College poll, with 49% either not knowing her or having no opinion.
- Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado has a 17-15% favorability rating (68% don’t know him or have no opinion), little changed from 17-18% in January. Rep. Ritchie Torres has a 19-13-68% favorability rating and Rep. Mike Lawler has a 17-20-64% favorability rating, both in their first statewide Siena College poll.
- President Joe Biden has a negative 44-52% favorability rating and a 47-52% job approval rating.
###
This Siena College Poll was conducted December 2-5, 2024, among 834 New York State registered voters. Of the 834 respondents, 531 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode (186 completed via text to web) and 303 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Lucid). 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. The landline telephone sample was obtained from ASDE and the cell phone sample was obtained from MSG. Data from collection modes was statistically adjusted by age, party by region, race/ethnicity, education, and gender to ensure representativeness. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social, and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, nonpartisan 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 crosstabs: www.Siena.edu/SCRI/SNY.
