Cuomo approval falls, but election leads hold
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorability rating has fallen, but he still maintains big leads over the candidates seeking to unseat him, according to a new Siena Poll.
The poll, released Tuesday, finds 49 percent of registered voters view Cuomo favorably, compared to 44 percent who have an unfavorable view of the governor. The 49 percent figure matches Democrat Cuomo’s lowest favorability rating during his seven-plus years in office.
Among registered Democrats, Cuomo leads his opponent in the party’s primary, actress Cynthia Nixon, 58 percent to 27 percent, the poll found. Last month, before Nixon formally declared her candidacy, the Siena Poll found Cuomo leading her 66-19 percent.
The poll also found the two GOP hopefuls for governor, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and Syracuse-area state Sen. John DeFrancisco, are unknown to three-quarters of New York voters and trail the governor by wide margins. Also, Siena said, more than half of registered Republicans don’t know who they would support in a primary between the two GOP contenders.
Cuomo leads Molinaro 51-37 percent, little changed from 57-29 percent a month ago, the poll found. The governor’s lead over DeFrancisco is 56-32 percent.
The survey was conducted April 8-12 and has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.