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The poll found that 55 percent was positive, while 45 percent said it was negative. Less than a quarter of surveyed likely voters rated his job performance as "excellent" and a third said his job performance was "good."
Upstate, 46 percent rated Cuomo’s job performance as positive, while the numbers skewed in his favor downstate, with 55 percent approving his performance. Cuomo was also favored in large cities (71 percent positive) and by African Americans (70 percent positive).
Cuomo, who earned an Emmy award for his daily COVID-19 briefings, received decent marks for his handling of the pandemic, with 56 saying it was positive, and 44 percent negative, though his controversial handling of nursing homes at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak drew the ire of those polled.
When voters were asked if they thought Cuomo was responsible for the deaths in nursing homes statewide, half said it was Cuomo's fault, and only a third did not agree; one fifth were not sure
“With the recent bombshell report released by the New York Attorney General's Office on the nursing home crisis during the pandemic, voters are now blaming Cuomo for the thousands of deaths that occurred in nursing homes because of decisions made by the Cuomo administration, especially the directive to have nursing homes re-admit sick patients who tested positive for COVID-19,” pollsters said.
According to the poll, 47 percent of voters said it was time for someone to take over as the governor, compared to 41 percent who said Cuomo should be re-elected (12 percent were not sure).
A majority of large city voters thought Cuomo should be re-elected, while the majority of suburban and rural voters thought it was time for someone else to take office.
“When we matched Cuomo against current Attorney General and rising star, Letitia James, Cuomo easily won, 65 percent to 22 percent, while, 13 percent were not sure,” pollsters said. “His numbers were almost identical against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14). In a hypothetical Democratic party showdown, Cuomo led 67 percent to 24 percent, while 9 percent were not sure.
“While Ocasio-Cortez did not fair well against Cuomo, she did beat the three-term governor among the youngest voters-aged 18-29 (Cortez led 47 percent to 43 percent, 10 percent not sure) and aged 18-24 (Cortez led 53 percent to 43 percent, 4 percent not sure).”
Pollsters said that the hypothetical candidate that polled best against Cuomo was controversial Congresswoman Elsie Stefanik, where the governor received 49 percent of the vote to 37 percent.
Zogby conducted the poll online, surveying 810 likely voters in New York between Wednesday, Feb. 3, and Friday, Feb. 5. The complete results can be found here.
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