{"id":154660,"date":"2026-03-05T23:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T23:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154660\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T23:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T23:15:09","slug":"state-voters-favor-raising-taxes-on-nyc-residents-earning-1-million-saratogian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154660\/","title":{"rendered":"State voters favor raising taxes on NYC residents earning $1 million \u2013 Saratogian"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. \u2014 By a 54-29% margin, New York state voters support the Governor and Legislature allowing New York City to raise personal income taxes on city residents earning at least $1 million, according to a new Siena Poll of New York State registered voters.<\/p>\n

New York City voters, 62-21%, and Democrats, 72-13%, overwhelmingly support it. The proposal from NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has more tepid support from the downstate suburbs, 50-32%, and upstate, 48-35%, while independents lean toward opposition, 40-37%, and Republicans oppose 51-36%.<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul \u2014 whose favorability rating dropped a few points but narrowly remains in positive territory \u2014 continues to lead Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, still largely unknown to voters statewide, by 20 points, 51-31%, from 26 points, 54-28%, in January. On six quotes read to voters without attribution \u2014 three Hochul quotes and three Blakeman quotes \u2014 voters, by wide, bipartisan majorities agree with each of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we enter budget month for the state, neither Hochul nor either house of the Legislature has indicated public support for Mamdani\u2019s request to allow New York City to raise personal income taxes on City residents earning at least $1 million. Yet, the public is on Mamdani\u2019s side, as the proposal is supported 54-29% among all voters statewide, and it has support from 62% of City voters and 72% of statewide Democrats,\u201d Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Republicans disagree, voters overall prefer New York City raise income taxes on its millionaires, rather than raise property taxes on all New York City property owners, Mamdani\u2019s stated position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s favorability rating is 46-42%, down a little from 49-40% in January. Her job approval rating is 53-41%, virtually unchanged from 54-41% in January. Blakeman has a 21-18% favorability rating, up a little from 18-20% in January. Still, 61% of New Yorkers have either never heard of Blakeman or have no opinion about him. Mamdani has a 47-35% favorability rating, down a little from 48-32% in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats still outnumber Republicans more than two-to-one, so it\u2019s not surprising to see Hochul continue to maintain a large double digit lead over Blakeman, although it\u2019s tightened a little bit in the last month,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cWhat was a 25-point lead in December and a 26-point lead in January is now a 20-point lead, largely due to Republicans coming home to Blakeman, and the race tightening among men \u2013 Hochul had led by 22 points and now leads by four \u2013 and in the downstate suburbs, where she led by 14 points and now leads by two points.<\/p>\n

\u201cHochul\u2019s favorability rating fell a few points from its high in January but is still in positive territory, albeit not by very much. Her job approval rating barely moved and remains positive \u2013 well, at least among Democrats. As for Blakeman, there are less than 250 days until election day and he has a lot of voters to educate. Only two in five voters know enough about him to say whether they view him favorably or unfavorably \u2013 and they\u2019re closely divided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority, 61%, have either never heard of Blakeman or don\u2019t know enough about him to have an opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reps Like What Hochul Says & Dems Like What Blakeman Says \u2013 If They Don\u2019t Know Who Said It<\/p>\n

Respondents were asked whether they mostly agreed or disagreed with each of six quotes \u2014 three by Hochul and three by Blakeman \u2014 although they were not told who authored the quote. The three Hochul quotes:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Q.17 \u201cIt is time that we cut the red tape that too often slows down projects and let communities build, so we can offer all New Yorkers the more affordable and livable state that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Q.19 \u201cYou can make historic investments without raising income taxes, without mortgaging the next generations, and without losing sight of what people can afford.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Q.21 \u201cWhen individuals enter this country illegally and commit crimes, I want them arrested and tried. If they\u2019re convicted, they must be imprisoned and deported.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three Blakeman quotes:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Q.18 Talking about the economy, one state leader said, \u201cIt\u2019s grocery bills, utility costs, rent, property taxes, and paychecks that don\u2019t go far enough. Families don\u2019t need more rhetoric \u2014 they need results.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Q.20 \u201cHardworking New Yorkers shouldn\u2019t have to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table. We need to take advantage of the natural resources we have and lower utility costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Q.22 \u201cI will stand with our police, not against them. I will fight to keep violent criminals and cop-killers behind bars, because the safety of our children and neighborhoods demands it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween 71% and 79% of voters agreed with each of the three Hochul quotes, including between 68% and 90% of Republicans, while between 77% and 88% of all voters agreed with each of the three Blakeman quotes, including between 67% and 87% of Democrats. Between 70% and 90% of independents agreed with all six quotes,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe \u2013 just maybe \u2013 voters don\u2019t really disagree as much as it appears that they do. Here we have three quotes from the Governor \u2013 who Republicans call the worst governor in America \u2013 that Republicans agree with. And we have three quotes from her challenger \u2013 said by many Democrats to be another MAGA Republican \u2013 that Democrats agree with.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the divisions in our politics are more related to the ideological and media silos that voters place themselves in, rather than the actual words and promises from the candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump Ratings Up a Little<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has a 35-60% favorability rating, up a little from 33-63% in January. His job approval rating is 36-61%, up a little from 34-63% in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown a few points one month, up a few points the next, that has described Trump\u2019s favorability rating over the last decade. His best favorability rating came in December 2016, 41-53%, after he was first elected but hadn\u2019t taken office the first time. His next best favorability rating was February 2025, 41-56%, just after assuming office the second time,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cIn this first year of his second term, Trump\u2019s favorability fell net 10 points from February 2025 to today, down six points on the good side and up four points on the bad side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile voters are evenly divided on grading Trump on securing the country\u2019s borders \u2013 49% say he\u2019s done an excellent or good job, compared to 49% who say he\u2019s done only a fair or poor job \u2013 Trump only gets between 30% and 34% of voters grading him excellent or good on defending the Constitution, managing trade and tariff policies, enhancing America\u2019s reputation abroad, and creating a responsible energy policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd worst of all for Trump is the grade he gets from New Yorkers on lowering the cost of living. Only 8% give him an excellent grade and 11% good, while 17% say fair and a whopping 60% say poor. Only 49% of Republicans give him a positive grade, while 91% of Democrats and 76% of independents give him a negative grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odds & Ends<\/p>\n

\u2022 Democrats still lead on the generic congressional ballot, 53-32%, but it\u2019s tightened a little since January when Democrats had a 27-point lead, 56-29%. 81% of Democrats support a Democrat for Congress, 86% of Republicans support a Republican, and independents narrowly favor Democrats, 38-31%, down from 46-29%.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Support has grown for \u2018deporting immigrants illegally living in the US,\u2019 from 43-35% in January, to 49-29% today. It is supported by 85% of Republicans, up from 70%, and 56% of independents, up from 45%. It still only has support from 30% of Democrats, little changed from 29% in January.<\/p>\n

\u2022 New York\u2019s legislative leaders remain largely unknown to voters. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has a 17-13% favorability rating (70% either never heard of her or don\u2019t know enough to have an opinion), similar to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie\u2019s 13-11% rating (75% don\u2019t know\/no opinion).<\/p>\n

This Siena Poll was conducted February 23-26, 2026, among 805 NYS Registered Voters. Of the 805 respondents, 530 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode (161 completed via text to web) and 275 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Cint).<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference in the Queens borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Heather Khalifa)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. \u2014 By a 54-29% margin, New York state voters support the Governor and Legislature allowing New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,267,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-154660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}