A second poll released in the last seven days shows that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorability and job performance have slipped in the wake of a major New York City transportation crisis.
A Siena poll of 793 New York state registered voters released Tuesday shows that the governor’s favorability rating has dropped to 52 percent compared to 41 percent who rate him unfavorably.
Forty-three percent of voters say Cuomo is doing either an “excellent” or “good” job as governor, compared to 55 percent who say is doing a “fair” or “poor job.”
When asked, “If Andrew Cuomo runs for re-election as governor in 2018, as things stand now, would you vote to re-elect him, or would you prefer someone else?” 46 percent of voters say they are prepared to re-elect him while 46 percent say they prefer “someone else.”
The Siena poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
A Quinnipiac University poll released July 12 shows Cuomo with a 46-to-38 percent overall job approval rating from New York State voters, representing a drop of 9 points since March.
“Cuomo’s favorability rating sank by double digits with all parties and in all regions,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “However, the drops in his job performance and re-elect ratings — which both fell by double digits with Democrats, Republicans, independents — are wholly from downstate voters.”
While his job performance rating dropped 25 points with New York City voters, and 32 points with downstate suburban voters, his rating with upstate voters ticked up two points since the last Siena poll, released in May.
“It appears likely that a major reason for Cuomo’s lower poll numbers relate to issues surrounding the MTA, for which only about one-quarter of voters — downstate and upstate — rate Cuomo positively,” Greenberg said. “While Cuomo’s re-elect and job performance ratings fell by 23 and 27 points respectively among voters in the MTA region, they both ticked down only a single point among voters [living outside] the MTA region.”
Problems such as derailments and delays have dominated the headlines in New York City papers this summer, with Gov. Cuomo himself calling it the “summer of hell.” Many of the problems stem from planned repairs to the tracks in and out of Penn Station, which could extend into the fall.
When it comes to Metropolitan Transportation Authority mass transit issues, voters give Cuomo a negative 26-to-59 percent job performance rating, according to today’s Siena Poll, slightly better than New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s negative 20-to-63 percent rating.
By a 52-to-33 percent margin, voters say they hold Cuomo — not de Blasio — more accountable for overseeing the MTA, which is a public benefit corporation run by a 17-member board. The governor nominates five of those board members in addition to the chairman and CEO.
“While voters outside the MTA region hold Cuomo more accountable for overseeing MTA mass transit than de Blasio by 13 points, voters in the MTA region hold Cuomo more accountable by 21 points,” Greenberg said. “Three-quarters of upstate voters and 96 percent of downstate voters say it’s important that the New York City area has a world-class mass transit system, yet only one-quarter of downstate voters and one-third of upstate voters give the MTA a positive job performance rating for managing New York City area mass transit.”
Approximately three-quarters of voters in the new Siena Poll say both New York state and New York City should invest more to improve MTA services.
“When it comes to investing money in the MTA to improve services, 72 percent of all voters — including 47 percent of those outside the MTA region — say New York state should invest more,” Greenberg said. “And 76 percent of all voters — including 64 percent of those outside the MTA region — say New York City should invest more,” Greenberg said. “Those in the MTA region say the state should be primarily responsible for providing funding by a 59-to-33 percent margin, while those outside the MTA region say the city should be primarily responsible, 67-to-26 percent.”