New York Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to lead Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in this year’s race for governor, but the lead has narrowed from previous months, according to a Siena University poll of registered voters released Tuesday.
According to the poll, Hochul leads Blakeman by 13 points, 47-34%, which is down from 20 points in February.
Hochul’s favorability eating, 45-42%, is little changed from last month, as is her job approval rating, which is 52-40%. Blakeman still remains unknown to many voters, with 64% of poll respondents saying they never heard of him or don’t know enough to have an opinion on the Republican lawmaker.
“Interestingly, Hochul’s standing with New Yorkers is essentially the same as last month – a small plurality views her favorably, and a small majority approves of the job she’s doing as governor – as is Blakeman’s, yet the race between the two has tightened a little,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said. “Three-quarters of Democrats continue to support Hochul, and more than three-quarters of Republicans continue to support Blakeman, but now independents favor Blakeman by seven points, after siding with Hochul by five points.”
Greenberg added that Hochul maintains a very narrow lead in the upstate region and the downstate suburbs while her lead in New York City fell from 46 points to 29 points.
“Is that movement or merely noise? Let’s see what happens next month after the budget and as the campaign unfolds,” he said.
When it comes to the other statewide offices on the ballot this fall, state Attorney General Letitia James has a41-30% favorability rating and 46% of voters say the would reelect her. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, nearly 20 years in office, has a 20-15% favorability rating, with 65% saying they’ve never heard of him or don’t know enough about him. Twenty-nine percent of voters are prepared to reelect him.
The poll found bipartisan groups of voters do support various legislative items. A 64-25% majority supports keeping New York state legislative terms at two years, rather than making those terms four years. A majority also wants to remove restriction and make it easier to buy pepper spray.
“A strong majority of New Yorkers also say that pepper spray should be easier to buy – currently, only available from certain pharmacies and gun stores – including 65% of independents, 62% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats,” Greenberg said. “Men, women and voters upstate and downstate agree.”
On the national front, a clear majority of New Yorkers support voters having to show proof of citizenship when registering and photo ID when they vote. Although Democrats oppose 55-36%, 82% of Republicans and 63% of independents support it. In addition, 65% of New Yorkers want the president to be required to get congressional approval to wage war, the poll found, including 51% of Republicans, 74% of Democrats and 61% of independents.
“Republicans (62%) support continuing President Trump’s tariff policies, while 60% of New Yorkers oppose continuing those policies, including 82% of Democrats and 54% of independents,” Greenberg said. “By a similar 57-25%, voters oppose taking actions against media and journalists critical of the President or his policies. More than two-thirds of Democrats oppose, as do 59% of independents; a 40-33% plurality of Republicans support it.”
According to the poll, a plurality of 40-33% support ending the U.S. Senate filibuster. Democrats are closely divided while 47% of Republicans and 41% of independents support its elimination.
As for the president himself, Donald Trump has a 35-62% favorability rating among New York voters, little changed from last month.
“Over the last year, Trump has been viewed favorably by between 32% and 40% of voters, while between 34% and 42% have approved of the job he’s doing. New Yorkers are pretty locked in on their view of Trump; nothing seems to move the numbers out of its narrow band,” Greenberg said.
The poll was conducted March 23-26 among 804 registered New York voters and has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points.