Hochul favorability drops to lowest point in latest Siena poll

After a delayed budget that saw Gov. Hochul battle members of her own party in the legislature on policy issues from housing to bail reform, the Siena College Research Institute found that New York voters have mixed opinions about her leadership, and are evenly divided on if she’s effective or strong in her job.

“While voters think that the recently passed budget and many of its specifics will be good for New York, at the same time they also give Hochul her worst-ever favorability rating — the first time it’s been under water. For months, we’ve noted that Hochul’s favorable rating has never hit 50%, now she’s struggling to keep it in the 40s,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

Despite that poor favorability rating, a majority of respondents said they think the governor is hard-working at 58%, to 20% who said she is not, and more people said they think she is honest at 44% and non-corrupt at 47% than said the opposite, at 32% and 26%, respectively.

On the state budget that took so much time and political capital to negotiate this year, a majority of people of all parties agree that three main policy items included are positive: the $1 billion increase to mental health care services, adjusting bail laws to give judges more discretion for serious crimes and cementing the state’s authority to crack down on illegal cannabis shops.

A majority of independents and Democrats also approve of the proposal to increase the minimum wage by $2 per hour over the next three years, then tie it to inflation after that, as well as the allocation of an extra $100 million for abortion clinics and reproductive care.

But a majority of voters overall disapprove of the mandate to ban natural gas appliances in all new construction after 2029, and the expansion of a film tax credit for production companies.

“Only Democrats think the new building electrification mandates and expanded film tax credit will be good for New York,” Mr. Greenberg said. “Overall, Democrats think the budget will be good for the state, Republicans think it will be bad for the state, and independents are more closely divided.”

On national issues, the poll found that 60% of New York Republican voters want former President Donald J. Trump as their party’s nominee for president in 2024, while 56% of state Democrats want President Joseph R. Biden to run for a second term.

For both candidates, those numbers are better than March, when Siena’s poll found 52% of New York Republicans wanted Mr. Trump to run again, and 43% of Democrats wanted Mr. Biden to run again.

The U.S. Supreme Court has an overall poor rating from New Yorkers, with 52% of respondents reporting a poor view of the institution, although it remains in a positive view for 57% of Republicans.

“As recently as October 2021, SCOTUS was viewed favorably, 51% to 32%,” Mr. Greenberg said. “Now, a majority from each region views the court unfavorably.”

The Siena College poll was conducted between May 7 and 11, reaching 810 registered voters in the state of New York by landline, cellphone and a web-based panel. The overall margin of error for this poll is 4.1% in either direction.