Hochul Sees Jump in Favorability/Approval/Re-elect Ratings; Favorability Rating (44-43%) Barely Positive; First Time Since January 2024

• Strong Support for Hochul Budget Issues – School Cell Phone Ban, Mask Ban, Discovery, Involuntary Commitment – But Not for Holding Up the Budget 
• Strong to Overwhelming Opposition to Several Trump Proposals: Cutting Funding to States, Laying off Tens of Thousands of Federal Employees, 100%+ Tariff on China, Ordering DOJ to Investigate 2 Former Trump Officials
• Schumer: His Worst Favorability Rating (39-49%) in 2 Decades of Siena College Polls; Ocasio-Cortez: Best Favorability Rating (47-33%) Among Those in This Month’s Poll

Press Release     Crosstabs

Loudonville, NY. Governor Kathy Hochul’s favorability, job approval and re-elect ratings all saw positive movement in this month’s Siena College Poll of New York State registered voters, released today. Hochul’s favorability rating stands at 44-43%, up from 40-50% in March. Voters now approve of the job Hochul is doing as Governor, 48-45%, up from 46-48% last month. Currently, 39% of voters are prepared to re-elect Hochul, compared to 48% who want ‘someone else,’ improved from 34-56% in March.

Voters support four issues Hochul is advocating for in the budget – restricting student smartphone use during the school day, 61-19%, making it a crime to wear a mask to conceal identity while threatening someone, 64-24%, amending the discovery law, 43-24%, and making it easier to involuntarily commit someone with mental illness, 45-31%.

“For the first time since January 2024, Hochul has a positive – barely – favorability rating, and for the first time since February 2024, a plurality of voters approves of the job she is doing as governor,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said. “On her favorability rating, Hochul improved a little with Democrats and Republicans and the most with independents. On her job approval rating, she lost a few points among Democrats, improved with independents and picked up the most ground with Republicans, with whom she remains strongly under water. On both ratings, Hochul improved most among upstate and women voters.

“Also improving is Hochul’s ‘generic re-elect’ rating. Currently, 39% of voters are prepared to re-elect Hochul, compared to 48% who prefer ‘someone else,’ improved from last month’s 34-56%. While she moved in a positive direction among voters from all parties, only a small majority of Democrats are prepared to re-elect her while two-thirds of Republicans want ‘someone else,’ as do 55% of independents, down from 64%,” Greenberg said.

“Now, here’s something you don’t see every day in the modern political world. On four policy proposals that Hochul has said must be part of the final budget, there is strong bipartisan agreement, with widespread support among Democrats, Republicans and independents for each,” Greenberg said. “At the same time, half of voters say that they are aware that the state budget has not yet passed and is late. And more than two-thirds of voters say they are very (31%) or somewhat (41%) concerned that the budget has not yet passed.

“When supporters of each of Hochul’s budget policy proposals were asked whether the Governor was right or wrong to hold up the budget for that issue, a majority of supporters said yes on discovery, pluralities said yes on school smartphone ban and involuntary commitment, and a plurality said no on face masks,” Greenberg said. “When looked at among all voters, only between 20% and 29% stand firmly with the Governor in both supporting these policy proposals and holding up the budget for them.”

Five Trump Proposals – from Tariffs to Cutting $ to States – Are Opposed by New Yorkers

“A strong majority of Democrats opposes each proposal, as do a majority or plurality of independents. A majority of Republicans supports both tariff proposals, and a plurality supports DOJ investigations of Trump critics and laying off tens of thousands of workers. However, a plurality of Republicans joins 76% of Democrats and 56% of independents in opposing cuts to states, including New York, in federal funding,” Greenberg said.

Little Movement in Trump Favorability and Job Approval Ratings

President Donald Trump’s favorability rating is 40-55%, up slightly from 39-57% in March. His overall job approval rating is 42-56%, little changed from 42-55% last month. Voters are closely divided on Trump’s job approval for making the federal government more efficient, 48-49%, and between 52% and 55% of voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing on reducing cost of living, improving the nation’s economy, and enhancing America’s reputation abroad.

“Although Trump’s favorability and overall job approval ratings barely moved, there was one noticeable demographic that shifted – independents,” Greenberg said. “While more than three-quarters of Democrats give Trump negative grades on both this month and last, and more than three-quarters of Republicans give him positive grades on both this month and last, a majority of independents gave Trump positive grades on both last month and give him negative grades on both this month.”

Schumer: Lowest Favorability in 20 Years of Siena Polls; AOC: Siena’s Best Favorability Rating this Month

Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has a 39-49% favorability rating, down from 45-41% in February. It is the first time his favorability rating has been negative since June 2024, and the worst it has ever been in a Siena College poll dating back to February 2005. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a 47-33% favorability rating, up from 38-39% the last time Siena asked about her statewide, January 2021.

“A first in a Siena College poll: Schumer is 10 points underwater, with a plurality of voters viewing him unfavorably. While he continues to be viewed unfavorably by more than two-thirds of Republicans and a majority of independents, Schumer saw his standing with Democrats, particularly liberals, fall dramatically,” Greenberg said. “Democrats view Schumer favorably 52-38%, down from 68-23%, and he’s still viewed favorably by a plurality of liberals, 47-41%, but that’s down from 68-21%. New York City voters are barely favorable, 47-44%.

“Among eight elected officials and each house of the State Legislature, AOC has the best favorability rating. She is viewed favorably by 64% of Democrats – more than Hochul or Schumer – and she is viewed unfavorably by 60% of Republicans. Independents are evenly divided 39-39%,” Greenberg said. “While Schumer’s fifth term runs through 2028, Ocasio-Cortez has established herself as a New York Democrat to watch.”

Odds & Ends

• In a potential Republican gubernatorial primary – fielded prior to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s trial balloon – Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman leads Rep. Mike Lawler, among registered Republicans, 28-22%, after trailing 13-25% last month. Blakeman has an 18-15% favorability rating among all voters, 26-19% with Republicans, while Lawler has a 23-26% favorability rating, 29-21% with Republicans. 
• A plurality of voters opposes building new nuclear power plants in New York, 47-35%. In December, voters were closely divided, with 43% opposing and 42% supporting. While there is a partisan divide, it is not huge. New nuclear power plants are opposed by 52% of Democrats and 45% of independents, while they are supported by 44% of Republicans. Men support 48-39%, while women oppose 54-24%
• A plurality of voters also opposes a state law mandating that all school bus fleets be entirely electric by 2035, 43-37%. A large plurality of Democrats supports the law, but it’s opposed by 62% of Republicans and 51% of independents. Interestingly, men are divided 43-44%, while women oppose 42-33%.
• Currently, 41% of  New Yorkers think the state is on the right track, while 45% say the state is headed in the wrong direction, an improvement from 38-46% last month, and 32-55% last September, a recent low point. Currently, 65% say the fiscal condition of New York State is only fair or poor, compared to 30% who say it is excellent or good, a small improvement from 68-27% in December. New Yorkers continue to be more pessimistic about the direction of the country, with 37% saying the nation is on the right track and 56% saying it’s headed in the wrong direction, little changed from 36-54% in March. 

###

This Siena College Poll was conducted April 14-16, 2025, among 802 NYS Registered Voters. Of the 802 respondents, 500 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode (170 completed via text to web) and 302 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Cint). 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 +/- 4.4 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, 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 crosstabs: www.Siena.edu/SCRI/SNY.