One-third of New York voters think Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo should run for a fourth term, according to a new poll by the Siena College Research Institute.
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The poll, released Thursday, is, on its face, bad news for Cuomo, who was first elected in 2010. He faces an impeachment investigation following a string of sexual harassment accusations and investigations into his handling of nursing homes at which patients died after being infected by COVID-19. Under Cuomo’s leadership, the state mandated coronavirus patients be moved into the facilities.
However, despite calls for his resignation from local and state officials and Democratic congressional lawmakers, Cuomo refused to step down, gambling that the fervor of his coinciding controversies would fade over time.
According to the survey, 23% of voters say the New York Democrat should resign immediately, while 39% would rather see Cuomo serve out his term but not seek reelection. Thirty-three percent of those polled say he should remain in his job and run for reelection.
The poll was conducted June 22-29 among 809 New York registered voters, with 522 voters contacted by both landline and cellphones. The remaining 287 responses were from a proprietary online panel of New Yorkers. The survey has a 4.1% margin of error.
And while the bulk of New York voters don’t want Cuomo to run for reelection, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo still has reasons for hope in 2022.
“Since his poll numbers took a significant hit earlier this year, Cuomo’s favorability, job performance and re-elect ratings have remained largely stable the last few months,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement.
Additionally, the three-term New York governor is already raising money for his reelection campaign. Cuomo’s campaign held a $10,000-per-plate fundraiser on Tuesday, the first since the scandals and investigations of his administration broke over the past year.
Cuomo’s campaign war chest shows he has $16.8 million cash on hand, according to campaign filings from January, a hill to climb for any Republican challenger to overcome.
However, according to the Siena survey, just 35% say they are ready to send Cuomo back to Albany if he runs again, while 56% would prefer “someone else.”
New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, the GOP gubernatorial front-runner who overwhelmingly won a straw poll among New York Republican county leaders on Tuesday, told the Washington Examiner that New Yorkers are “hitting their breaking points” over Cuomo’s scandals.
The Long Island congressman accused Cuomo of pushing forth “failed liberal policies” that are “destroying the state,” describing crime surge issues. The Siena survey poll showed that crime, at 32%, was the No. 1 issue respondents want the governor to address.
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“The contrast is so clear between the parties,” he said. “While the Democrats enact cashless bail and want to get rid of qualified immunity, we’re here calling for a repeal of cashless bail and keeping qualified immunity. Keeping more law enforcement, not less.”
Cuomo’s numbers were buoyed, 51%-32%, by poll respondents’ positive reactions to how he generally handled the pandemic. Sixty-six percent of New York voters in the survey favored the way Cuomo distributed COVID 19 vaccines to New York residents. He also received similarly high marks for keeping New Yorkers informed.
