A new Siena College poll finds a slight drop in Governor Cuomo’s popularity for the third month in a row. The poll finds the governor’s popularity has dropped to 64%, still higher than most politicians in the country, but an eight point slide from a 72% approval rating in December.
Siena’s Steve Greenberg says Governor Cuomo spent political capital when he aggressively pushed a strict gun control law through the legislature early in January. But Greenberg says most New Yorkers still support the new gun laws, though nearly half now view the governor as politically motivated, rather than pressing for changes that benefit the people of the state.
“Although the gun law has certainly created a stir across the state, particularly upstate, the majority of voters are with the governor on guns. And they are strongly with him on a number of other prominent issues,” Greenberg
said. “So, is it the gun law creating this mini-trend of three consecutive months of lower poll numbers? Or is it, to some degree, that nearly half of voters see recent decisions by the governor as being politically motivated?”
The poll also asked voters about the governor’s agenda, including raising the minimum wage, codifying a woman’s right to choose abortion in state law, and public financing of campaigns. It found the majority support all of those isues.