Gov. Kathy Hochul's favorability rating has risen from November, the first time it's been positive in nearly a year, according to a Siena poll released Monday.
The Siena Research Institute says Hochul's favorability rating is now at 45%, up from 40% in November. Her job approval has also gone up since November, from 48% to 52%.
There are some sobering statistics for the governor in the poll of registered New York voters, though: Either a plurality of majority of those polled think Hochul won't progress in making the state safer or a more desirable place to live; fixing the mental health care system; increasing housing supply; and making New York the world's artificial intelligence capital.
"On several issues Hochul has championed, voters think she will not make progress in the next year. Voters think, 54-33%, that Hochul will not make living in New York more desirable. By 44-26% they say she won’t make New York the A.I. capital of the world, including a majority of Republicans and pluralities of Democrats and independents," Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said. "While Democrats give Hochul props on all the other issues, a majority of both Republicans and independents say she will not make progress on any of those four issues."
Hochul's job approval rating is buoyed by a 72% approval rating among her fellow Democrats, with more than three-quarters of Republicans and more than half of independents disapproving of the job she's doing.
When it comes to foreign aid, those polled continue to support aid to Ukraine, slightly down from 52% to 50% from November, but 45% of voters disapprove of additional aid to Israel. In November, that same aid had been supported by 51% of voters polled.
Greenberg said "the partisan divide disappears" when it comes to aid for Israel, as Democrats and independents barely oppose it, while Republicans barely support it.
"White voters support Israeli aid by 10 points and Ukrainian aid by 20 points, while Black and Latino voters oppose both," Greenberg said. "Younger voters also oppose aid to both countries, while older voters strongly support aid for both countries."
President Joe Biden's favorability rating, meanwhile, is at his lowest in any Siena poll, at 43%. That's down slightly from November. His job approval rating is also at a new low, 44%. He continues to lead former president and GOP front-runner Donald Trump among New York voters, 46% to 37% head to head. Among Republicans, Trump's favorability in New York is at 80%.
The poll got answers from 807 registered New York voters and has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points.