Gov. Kathy Hochul tops potential Democratic primary rivals, though a plurality of voters overall hold a negative view of the job she is doing as governor, a Siena College poll released Tuesday morning found.
At the same time, half of voters do not believe Hochul is doing a good job addressing issues that are important to them, which is includes concerns centered around public safety and addressing systemic racism.
The poll reflects the unsettled nature of New York's political scene nearly two months after the resignation of three-term Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August and highlights how a multi-candidate Democratic primary could make for the first competitive race for the nomination in a generation.
New Yorkers do not agree on whether the state is heading in the right direction, with 44% believing it's going on the right track and 43% believing it's not.
The poll found in one scenario Hochul leading a Democratic primary field that includes Attorney General Letitia James, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Cuomo himself. In that matchup, Hochul receives 31% of the vote, with Cuomo at 17% and James at 14%.
In a field that does not include Cuomo, Hochul receives 39% of the vote, with James at 20% and de Blasio at 10%. Williams polls in single digits in both polls.
In a head-to-head primary with James, Hochul tops the primary 47% to 31%. The poll also found 45% of voters overall are prepared to elect Hochul to a full term if she is the victor in the June primary, with 18% undecided.
The poll of 801 registered New York voters was conducted from Oct. 10 to Oct. 14. It has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. Among Democratic voters, the poll's margin of error was 5.4 percentage points.
The poll did not include other potential candidates who could take away moderate Democratic voters from Hochul, Rep. Tom Suozzi and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
The survey comes as Hochul over the last two months has started to build an administration, remove some figures who were close to the former governor and rack up endorsements from party activists and leaders around the state. At the moment, none of her potential Democratic primary rivals have formally entered the race.
Hochul has also demonstrated her governing philosophy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, backing vaccination mandates for health care workers and other critical sectors amid the ongoing public health crisis. A combined 42% of voters say Hochul is doing a good or excellent job with the pandemic, with 44% finding she is doing a poor or fair job.
Overall, Hochul's favorability rating stands at 42% to 26%, a drop from 42% to 17% a month ago. Her job performance is now at a negative 43% to 45%, a downward swing from 44% to 37% in September, the poll found.
But 32% of voters still don't know enough or have no opinion on the state's recently elevated governor.
Voters are also split on how she has handled other issues facing her early tenure in office: 39% believe she did an excellent or good job with natural disasters, 38% do not. And when it comes to addressing issues important to the voters themselves, 50% believe Hochul is doing a fair or poor job; only 33% rate those efforts as good or excellent.
Just over half of voters, 51%, believe Hochul is doing or fair or poor job handling the state's economy.
When it comes to key issues facing voters, 82% of voters overall, including 83% of Democrats, called reducing crime very important. Addressing systemic racism was called very important by 61% of voters, while ensuring New Yorkers receive the COVID-19 vaccine was deemed very important by 58% of voters.
Cuomo, the former governor, holds a 33% favorable rating, with 60% holding an unfavorable view of him. Cuomo resigned on Aug. 24 amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.
The poll's crosstabs can be found here.