Governor Kathy Hochul‘s popularity among New York voters has declined by 8 points since earlier this winter.
The Siena College poll also found a decided lack of enthusiasm for the likely Democratic and Republican candidates in the 2024 presidential race.
Hochul, who enjoyed her highest favorability and job performance ratings in January, saw those numbers fall by 8 percentage points this month.
The poll finds that most New Yorkers think Hochul is hard-working, and a plurality of voters believe she is an honest politician. But many don’t view her as a strong leader, and they believe she is out of touch with the average New Yorker.
Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said the governor lost ground among some core voting blocs that Democrats need to be competitive in this year’s congressional races.
He said the drop could be due to some of the governor’s budget proposals that she outlined in late January or that “voters don’t see her making progress on the issues they care about.”
Hochul has gained negative attention for her proposal to make changes to the state’s school aid formula, which would result in some school districts in suburban and rural areas receiving less money this year than they would under the old rules. She also has scaled back plans for affordable housing after failing last year to win passage of an ambitious project.
The top issues for voters is the cost of living with 29% listing it as their number one concern. After affordability the migrant crisis was the top issue for 23% of those polled, and 15% said crime. But even though crime does not seem to be top of mind for many New Yorkers anymore, 56% still say crime has gotten worse in the past year.
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