More New Yorkers think Cuomo should resign: poll

ALBANY — More New Yorkers think Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign, a new poll shows, as the embattled pol faces multiple investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and a federal probe into his administration’s potential coverup of thousands of nursing home deaths throughout the pandemic.

The survey released by Siena College released Monday also suggests Attorney General Letitia James would be a stronger Democratic candidate for governor in 2022 compared to Cuomo — who would be running for a fourth term.

Forty one percent of registered voters said Cuomo should resign immediately as governor, compared to 49 percent who say he should not step down.

That’s five percentage points higher than April’s poll, as when asked the same question: 37 percent of voters said the Democrat should resign compared to 51 percent who said he should not. 

Republicans favor Cuomo’s resignation by a 62 to 29 percent margin, but Democrats responded that the governor should not resign by a 50 to 29 percent difference. 

Independents however were tied, with 45 percent saying the governor should resign compared to 45 percent who said he should not. 

When given the choice between electing either Cuomo or State Attorney General Letitia James over a Republican for governor next year, the state’s top lawyer outperformed the third-term Democrat. 

Forty-six percent of registered voters said they would prefer that James be elected governor in 2022 over a Republican, compared to 29 percent opposed to the idea. 

When asked if they would prefer to vote for Cuomo over a Republican, 48 percent of individuals said ‘yes’ whereas 38 percent who answered ‘no.’

“When voters were told that the Democrat was Cuomo running against an unnamed Republican, the race tightens significantly. Cuomo leads the generic Republican, 48-38 percent, a 10-point lead,” said Siena pollster Steve Greenberg. 

“When voters were told that the Democrat was James running against an unnamed Republican, James leads 46-29 percent, a 17-point lead,” Greenberg said.

Fifty three percent of New Yorkers would prefer to elect ‘someone else’ besides Cuomo if he runs for governor in 2022, a contrast to 37 percent who would re-elect him.

“While James does better than Cuomo against an unnamed Republican with nearly every demographic group, it’s independent voters that stand out. Independent voters side with James by three points over an unnamed Republican, while the unnamed Republican beats Cuomo by 18 points with independents,” he added. 

Meanwhile, 42 percent of those surveyed think Cuomo has committed sexual harassment, 24 percent replied he has not done so and 34 percent are either undecided or don’t know.

Democrats are torn three ways on the matter — as 32 percent said he has committed sexual harassment, 33 percent answered that he has not and 34 percent responded they either don’t know or have no opinion. 

Although 48 percent of New Yorkers harbor an unfavorable opinion of Cuomo compared to 44 percent who said they have a favorable view, his favorability rating did make a slight, four-point gain compared to April’s 40 to 52 percent performance. 

New Yorkers also approve of Cuomo’s overall handling of the pandemic by a 58 to 35 percent margin — but 67 percent said he has done a ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ job when asked about Cuomo’s ability to make public all data about COVID-related deaths of nursing home patients.

Just 30 percent of individuals said he did a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ job disclosing that information. 

The poll of 793 voters conducted between May 16 to the 20th has a plus, minus 4.0 percentage-point margin of error.