Democrats are dominating all of the contested statewide races in New York, with the incumbent candidates holding double-digit percentage point advantages over their Republican challengers, a Siena College poll released Wednesday found.
Voters continue to be anxious about the economy and, more recently, threats to democracy outpacing concerns around crime, the poll found.
The poll shows:
- Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul leader Republican Lee Zeldin in the race for governor, 54% to 37%.
- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer holding a clear advantage over Republican Joe Pinion, 55% to 36%.
- Attorney General Letitia James over Republican Michael Henry, 53% to 37%.
- Comptroller Tom DiNapoli leading Paul Rodriguez, 52% to 29%.
Meanwhile, most voters in the Democratic-dominated state, by a margin of 54% to 39%, want Democrats to control the House of Representatives over Republicans. And a majority of voters, 55% to 26%, support a $4.2 billion bond for water and sewer infrastructure and other upgrades to curtail the effects of climate change.
The poll comes as the campaigns have shifted into a higher gear with Labor Day now in the rear view mirror and early voting set to begin in the coming weeks.
It also comes amid significant economic uncertainty and rising inflation. New York's unemployment rate has lagged behind the rest of the country in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
Hochul's campaign has focused heavily on abortion rights following the overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision this summer. Zeldin, meanwhile, has zeroed in on public safety issues, and has called for an unwinding of recent criminal justice law changes made by Democrats in Albany.
But the economy has become the top-tier issue for New York voters, the Siena poll found.
Half of voters polled rank the economy as the key issue for them, including 68% of Republicans and 58% of independent voters. Threats to democracy was named by 34% of voters as a top concern, followed by crime at 29%. Gun policies followed at 19% and abortion at 15% of voters.
A plurarlity of voters, 47%, believe New York is on the wrong track. It's a sentiment that splits New Yorkers by party: 58% of Democrats believe the state is going in the right direction; 74% of Republicans and 56% of independents polled do not.
Still, Hochul has maintained a lead over Zeldin, a congressman from Long Island, that was little changed from a Siena survey in August.
Hochul holds a wide 70% to 20% lead over Zeldin in New York City and a 5-percentage point lead in the suburbs, 50% to 45%. They are in a virtual tie in upstate counties.
The poll found Hochul's base of Democrats has stuck with her, but Zeldin holds a narrow lead with independent voters at 45% to 42%.
“Zeldin’s narrow lead among independents is both good; it’s a lead – and bad; it’s narrow," Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg said. "To close or even narrow a 17-point gap, he would need to win a far greater share of independents, solidify Republican support, as well as pick off some more Democrats."
The Siena poll of 655 likely voters was conducted from Sept. 16-25 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.