Should NY Governor Andrew Cuomo run for a fourth term in 2022? According to a Siena College poll, 62% of voters polled said ‘Don’t Run Again.’
More important, only 45% of New York Democrats want Cuomo to run again. “Since his poll numbers took a significant hit earlier this year, Cuomo’s favorability, job performance and re-elect ratings have remained largely stable the last few months. But 16 months from the next gubernatorial election and less than a year from the primary, only one-third of New Yorkers – including just 43 percent of Democrats – think Cuomo should run for re-election,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
When New York voters were asked what they would like Governor Andrew Cuomo to do, 23 percent say he should resign immediately, 39 percent say he should serve out his term but not seek re-election, and 33 percent say he should continue to serve and run for re-election. Separately, 35 percent say they are prepared to re-elect Cuomo if he runs, while 56 percent would prefer ‘someone else’ (from 37-53 percent last month), according to a new Siena College poll of registered New York State voters.
Overall, voters approve of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, 51-32 percent. Specifically, voters say Cuomo did a good job on managing vaccines (66-20 percent), keeping New Yorkers informed (60-27 percent), and reopening the state (54-33 percent). However, voters say Cuomo did a bad job, 60-22 percent, addressing questions about his handling of nursing homes. Cuomo’s 45-47 percent favorability rating is little changed from 44-48 percent last month. His job performance rating is negative 41-56 percent, from 42-55 percent in May.
Greenburgh added that “Twenty-seven percent of white voters want to see him run again, as do 40 percent of Latinos and a majority, 52 percent, of Black voters.”
The question for New York Democrats is, if not Cuomo then who? The Siena poll also asked about NY Attorney General Letitia James, who has a 34-21 percent favorability, with 45 percent having never heard of her or not knowing enough to have an opinion.
A possible list of NY Democrats includes James, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, Westchester State Senator Alessandra Biaggi. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
