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Are you satisfied with how Gov. Hochul is doing her job?
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
A Siena College poll of registered voters released on Tuesday, Feb. 20, shows that Hochul’s favorability rating sits at 41 to 46 percent, down from 45 to 42 percent in January 2024.
Her job approval rating also took a hit, sitting at 48 to 47 percent, down from 52 to 42 percent last month, the poll found.
Voters were closely divided on whether Hochul is an effective or strong leader, and a plurality said she’s out of touch with average New Yorkers, the poll showed.
It wasn’t all bad news for the governor, though, as a majority of respondents said Hochul is hard working and pluralities think she is honest and not corrupt.
“After recording her best favorability and job approval ratings in nearly a year last month, Hochul saw both fall by net eight points this month, with her favorability rating slipping back into negative territory, where it spent most of 2023,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.
“Whether it was her budget proposals, her efforts on issues of importance to voters, or perhaps the recent attention-grabbing special election in Queens and Nassau, both Hochul’s favorability and job approval ratings fell the most with downstate suburban voters and Democrats.”
Those polled were also asked about their top issues for the governor and legislature to address. Nearly half, 49 percent, had the cost of living in their top two. The recent influx of migrants, crime, and affordable housing were also high on the list.
The top three issues for Democrats are cost of living, housing, and migrants, while for Republicans it’s migrants, cost of living, and crime, the poll found.
“Another potential factor affecting how voters see Hochul is that a majority, 56 percent, continue to say that the quality of life in New York is getting worse, compared to only 14 percent who think it’s getting better, and 25 percent who say it’s staying about the same,” Greenberg said.
“More than two-thirds of Republicans and independents think the quality of life in New York is getting worse, as do a plurality, 42 percent, of Democrats.”
Pollsters also asked voters about their feelings heading into the 2024 presidential election, with President Biden leading former President Trump 48 to 36 percent.
Forty-one percent of voters said they would rather the next president be someone other than Biden or Trump.
A former lieutenant governor in the Andrew Cuomo administration, Hochul first took office in August 2021 after Cuomo resigned amid accusations of sexual misconduct. She was elected to her first full term in November 2022.
The Siena College poll was conducted between Monday, Feb. 12 and Wednesday, Feb. 14 with 806 registered New York voters.
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